Ranma the Woren
by Shritistrang
Summary: In the world of dragons, a young cat-girl still remembers her adventures with the boy called Ryu. But what kind of secrets does she have herself? And when will Katt's friends learn more about her past? Crossover with Breath of Fire 2.
1. Yearning

The majestic mountain was towering over the outback of the small town of Gate. The peace and quiet that seemed to surround the tall mountain almost made one forget the evil that was dwelling underneath, deep in the bowels of the earth...

Still, the people had faith that whatever would come up to disturb their peace would always be hindered to do so by their guardian... the dragon that was resting on top of the mountain.

More majestic than even the mountain itself, the enormous Kaiser Dragon towered over the town and its surrounding woods and grasslands. Its front legs and its massive head were resting over the three entrances to the mountain itself, effectively sealing them off against any demon that might be struggling against them from the inside.

Its giant eyes, each one as big as a human's head, were closed. The dragon was sleeping peacefully.

Down below, at the foot of the mountain, two young individuals were standing, two female members of two different races.

One girl had long, blue hair and dark blue dragon wings that were folded on her back. She was dressed in a skimpy, but effective, red leather armor.

The other girl had short, red hair, striped fur that was covering most of her legs and lower torso, as well as her pointed ears and her long tail. Her armor as almost as skimpy as that of her dragon-winged friend, but was made of more metal. She was also carrying a long stick.

Patty, also known as the 'Phantom Thief', gently put down the bags and heavy stone figure she was carrying. Behind her, her feline friend was doing the same.

She smiled up at the motionless face of the dragon. "Hey there, big brother! Would you look at that? The villagers once again made you so many presents, can you believe it? Here, the old stone cutter even created a small statue that looks just like you."

She put down the figurine onto the big stone plate that had been placed in front of the sealed middle entrance, right beneath the dragon's muzzle. Here, many other presents for the heroic dragon have been placed.

"I still don't believe it..." Patty sighed. "My own brother, having become this famous..."

"Well, the people know that it was him who went down there to defeat the demon," Katt spoke up. "I figure they will think twice before turning to such a questionable 'religion' such as St. Eva..."

"Not that I'm not proud of what Ryu did... he's my big brother, after all. But, sometimes I believe the people forget that you, Nina, Rand, Sten and the others helped as well."

"Well, yeah, we always have been the 'sidekicks', you know?" the young Woren girl grinned bashfully. "We all know that it was your brother who held the group together as our leader... and wasn't it Ryu who in the end sacrificed himself to seal off the gates with his dragon form?"

"You almost speak of him as if he were dead," Patty grumbled as she crossed her arms over her ample bosom. "He's only sleeping... and one day, I'm sure, he will wake up again. Maybe... maybe when someone else will take his place."

Katt wanted to point out that she and her brother have been the only surviving members of the Dragon Clan that aren't sealed away in the underworld... but she wisely decided to shut her mouth for now.

With a sigh, Patty looked up at the sleeping face of Ryu's dragon form one last time, before she turned around and said: "Well, let's go!"

Katt nodded, and together, they walked back to town.

"Say, 'Patty'," Katt suddenly spoke up. "Do you still plan to carry this name? I mean, it's not like you still have to hide anything, with St. Eva gone and all..."

"Well, maybe, but this is the name I used for the past ten years, Katt," the dragon girl sighed. "'Yua' was just a little girl who ran away from home, because she couldn't save her father and brother..." She shook her head. "No, I prefer my current name, girl... That doesn't mean I would ever deny my true family name, but this is just the name I'm more comfortable with, you understand?"

"Yeah, I guess I can," Katt nodded with a sigh.

Patty blinked in confusion and looked at her red-headed friend. For a while, she believed to see something in the Woren's eyes that she had never seen before. Something like... regret? Sadness? She didn't get it.

Well, if Katt didn't want to talk about it, she would respect that decision. She would tell in time if she needed some help from her friends.

"So... you remember how I told you of that small vacation I've planned? I wanted to do a little bit of traveling, and visit all of our friends. You still wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure!" Katt said, perking up. "I can't wait to see them all again. Rand sure must have his hands full with his mother's farm... and Sten must have received his promotion by now. And Bow is still working as a ranger in HomeTown. You hear something from the others?"

"Well, Spar is just dwelling within the forest, being her calm little self. Nina is still in the middle of learning what it means to be a princess, now that Mina is stuck in her Great Bird form... Nina still tries to get on terms with that, I think. Bleu has returned to her little desert cave. I doubt that we'll be able to find it again... and to tell you the truth, I don't plan on going into the desert, just to visit an old friend. And Jean..." She shudders. "Well, who knows whatever is going on in that frog's head..."

"Yeah, our little frog prince has always lived in his own little world," Katt grinned. "Your father does approve of your journey, does he?"

"Well, he knows that I need to stretch my wings, every now and then," the Phantom Thief grinned. "What about you? Don't you have any relatives you wanna meet again? You never told us about your home, by the way. Rand told me you have been a warrior at the Coliseum in Coursair ever since he started working there. So where do you come from?"

She saw how her furry friend hesitated. "I... I don't really have a home," she sighed. "Before I met Ryu, I simply wandered around, seeing if there was a town that needed a strong fighter."

"And your family?" Patty asked. "Don't you have someone you would like to go back to?"

"I... I can't say for sure," the Woren said in a silent voice. "It has been such a long time I saw them, I wonder if they... if they would recognize me like this..."

"Hey, I'm sure they would be proud that their daughter has turned into such a fine warrior as yourself, girl!" Patty smirked. "So, you don't know where they are right now?"

"No, I... I don't know how to go back to them," Katt replied. "You know how it is with us Woren, right? We're the smallest of our tribe, and it would just be a big coincidence, running into a member of our tribe."

"True, Tiga has been the only Woren I've seen, except for you... oops!" Patty put her hands in front of her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to remind you of... You still must have some feeling for him."

"It's okay," Katt sighed. "He was a nice guy, but there never was something as love between us, even if he believed so for a while. Still, it's a shame what happened to him and Claris..."

She sighed again. "Sorry, Patty, I just need some time for myself... could you leave me alone for a while? I'll come back to your father's house in a while."

"Um, sure... no problem!" Patty nodded, wondering what sore spot she has hit now. But she saw that her friend wanted to deal with it by herself and left her for now.

Katt sat down on a big boulder, just outside of town. She put her arms on her knees and sighed, yet again.

Being reminded of that tragedy with Tiga had awakened yet another memory in the back of her head, which she had preferred not to think about anymore. And when Patty had started to talk about her family...

If she only...

She shook her head. "No!" she firmly said. "I won't see them again, ever! I came to terms with that, and there's nothing I can do about it."

A single tear ran down her furry cheek. "If only... forgetting wasn't that hard..." she whispered.

Out of her belt pouch, she pulled a small item, a locket that was formed like a horse.

She opened it. On either side, a picture was visible. Three different people were on those pictures... humans, with no trace of fur on their bodies.

On the left picture, she could see an adult woman, mature but still good-looking, with red hair that looked so similar to her own. She was dressed in an elegant kimono. Next to her, a portly man wearing a white gi and a kerchief upon his bald head was standing, holding her with his arm.

Katt sniffed. "Mom... Pops..." she whispered.

She then looked at the other picture, which showed a young, smiling girl with short, dark hair. Only her face was visible, but it was this face that made the feline girl cry. It was the memory of... the only person she had really ever loved.

How long was it since she had looked the last time at that locket? Looking at those pictures reminded the crying girl of so many things...

Like her real name, for instance...

She reached up to the backside of her head, where a red pigtail had once been dangling.

"Akane..." the girl formerly known as Ranma Saotome whispered. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I can't come back to you... ever..."

* * *

The phone rang.

A small, wrinkled hand picked it up. "Yes, Nekohanten?"

Cologne, elder of the Chinese Amazon Tribe, listened to what the speaker on the other end of the line had to say and nodded.

"She did? Well, that's certainly good news. Yes, Shampoo will be glad to hear about that as well." A short pause. "Oh, not too good, I'm afraid. I believe she's still blaming herself for what happened... she hasn't spoken a word ever since." A sigh. "She also seems to spend much more time in her cat form. Yes. Yes, of course I'll tell her."

Another pause. "She asked to see me? Well, I can close early today, it wouldn't hurt our business much... No, we won't bring Mousse. Yes, I think so, too. Thank you, Mr. Tendo! Yes, we will hurry. See you in a while..."

She hung up. "Shampoo? Where are you, child? I have good news!"

She walked through the restaurant searchingly, looked into the kitchen and finally found her great-granddaughter lying on her bed in her room... in her cat form. "Shampoo! Guess what, Kasumi just woke up from her coma. Isn't that good news?"

Shampoo raised her head from where she was lying and looked at her great-grandmother with a hopeful expression. With a feline sigh of relief, she stood up and followed her great-grandmother downstairs, where a kettle of hot water was waiting.

"Now, hurry up and change back! Kasumi has requested the presence of both of us."

Shampoo-neko looked up at her questioningly.

"Yes, Mr. Tendo said so himself. You are welcome to come. Now, hurry up, we don't want to keep them waiting."

* * *

Later, the two Amazons were standing in front of the Nerima hospital. Shampoo, who was back in her human form, looked up at the building and sighed.

"I know this will be hard for you, child... but I'm pretty sure no one up there will blame you for what happened to Kasumi OR for Ranma's disappearance."

Shampoo didn't say a word, but her look and her raised eyebrows said everything.

Cologne sighed. "Yes, even Akane! I mean, it has been two years, surely she will have put aside that silly little grudge of hers. Of course it's a long time for someone to be in coma, but they all have seen how sorry you are. Now come and go up there. Kasumi has been out of it for two years, you don't want to refuse her request to see you, do you?"

Shampoo shook her head and Cologne smiled. "Well, let's go then."

* * *

"You did WHAT?" Akane Tendo shrieked so loud, that the nurse that was going past them threw her an angry glare. Akane remembered that this was a hospital and lowered her voice a bit. "What do you mean, you called Shampoo? Dad, all of this happened only because of that ditzy fool of an Amazon! And you're going to allow her to come close to Kasumi?"

Soun Tendo massaged his temples. "Akane, it was Kasumi's own wish to see her. And while I know all of this has started with Shampoo's little... experiment, I don't think she could have anticipated all of what happened... especially not that Kasumi would suddenly appear at the Nekohanten."

"Oh, so now it's suddenly Kasumi's fault that she has been in coma for two years?" the youngest Tendo sister ranted.

"Of course not," Soun sighed. "Listen, you know that Kasumi just came to the Nekohanten because she decided to take some ramen home with her... she didn't know that Ranma and Shampoo were doing their 'special training' in there."

"Training?" Akane huffed. "Daddy, that dumb broad changed herself into a cat deliberately, even though she knows that Ranma is terrified of cats. No wonder he entered the Neko-ken... and you know how dangerous Ranma can be to anyone in this state of mind."

"Well, from what Cologne told me, her great-granddaughter was just trying to cure Ranma from his fear of cats..."

"You think Ranma would be dumb enough to fall for a lie like that? It's obvious that they have used some hypnotic herbs again. I still think they know pretty well where Ranma has vanished to after this incident."

"Akane..." her father groaned. "Kasumi, Ranma and Shampoo were the only persons present, and Shampoo hasn't spoken ever since that day. We don't really know the whole situation here. Don't you think we should wait until Kasumi has told us the whole story behind all of this?"

"I still don't see why Cologne and Shampoo have to be present for that..." Akane grumbled.

"Because it was Kasumi's first request after she woke up," Soun said sternly. "Now you're going to respect your sister's wish, do I make myself clear, Akane?"

Akane's frown just deepened, but then she turned around and stormed down the corridor in the opposite direction of her father.

Soun scratched his head. "Akane... what am I going to do with you?" he sighed.

When he heard a strange noise, he turned around. He smiled in relief when he realized that it was just the clopping of Cologne's stick, as the Amazon elder pogoed out of the lift towards him, followed by Shampoo.

The young amazon warrior was looking very miserable. She didn't even look up from the ground once, and her beautiful hair was a mess. She seems to take what happened much more to heart than Soun had assumed.

He smiled at them. "Cologne, Shampoo! Good that you could make it!"

"How could we say no?" Cologne said in greeting. "After all, it was kinda our fault..."

Soun noticed how Shampoo winced under her great-grandmother's words and she looked even further away from him.

"I don't know what to do with her," Cologne said in a whisper. "She doesn't talk, she barely eats and she hasn't trained her battle skills for months... I'm really concerned about her future as an Amazon."

She coughed. "Well, how is Kasumi? Is she feeling fine?"

Soun smiled. "Yes, she's fine! She's wide awake and has an appetite I've never seen on her. And she seems to remember clearly what happened. But... she doesn't want to tell us until the two of you are present to hear it as well."

"Well, I must say I am pretty anxious about hearing the truth of what really happened. Are her sisters with her?"

"Well, Nabiki is with her now, along with Ranma's parents... Akane, well, she has just left, but I think it's best she wouldn't meet Shampoo right now anyway."

Cologne frowned. "Is she still holding a grudge towards her?"

Soun nodded. "Cologne, I know our families haven't always been on equal terms, but I know Shampoo would never do something to harm Ranma, so I am assuming everything that happened was just an accident. But... you really don't know where Ranma could have vanished to after all of this?"

The elder shook her head. "I'm sorry, I have just so many magical items in my possession... anything could have happened. Or, for a reason I can't quite see, Ranma ran away on his own and decided not to come back."

"Well, hopefully Kasumi will give us an answer to that... Please, come in! Everyone has been waiting for you."

Cologne nodded. After waving Shampoo, the purple-haired girl followed the two adults reluctantly into the hospital room.

Kasumi was sitting upward in bed, her eyes as wide awake as before those two years, and with that cute smile of hers that everyone had missed on her face.

When the door opened, this smile was directed at the two newcomers. "Shampoo! Cologne! How nice of you to come!"

"Well, I can't say we weren't worried for you, Miss Tendo," Cologne said. "I'm glad to see that you seem to be fine."

"Oh yes, the doctors said that I'll probably be able to leave the hospital over the week. Everything has healed quite nicely."

"That's good to hear," Cologne smiled. Then, her face took on a serious look. "Kasumi... I'm sorry I have to pester you with this, but... do you really remember what happened on that day?"

Kasumi's smile vanished and made place for a sad frown. "Yes, I remember all too well, elder," she said in a quiet voice. Everyone in the room looked at her in surprise. It was very rare to see Kasumi with such a serious look on her face.

"Well, Shampoo only told me that she wanted to do something against Ranma's fear against cats," Cologne spoke up. "She didn't tell me all the details... and if I knew what would have happened, I would have never accepted that challenge of Happosai." She sighed. "It turned out to be an invitation for a date anyway..."

"Excuse me, but I think I speak for everyone in here when I say that we don't need to hear the details about that 'date'," Nabiki said.

"Yes, you're right," Cologne nodded.

"Well, after I walked back home from the grocery store, I came past the Nekohanten, as usual," Kasumi started her tale. "I decided to take some ramen with me... your ramen is always so delicious," she smiled at Cologne. "But then, I heard some strange noises coming from inside. It almost sounded like... a cat's meow. I was curious and went inside..." She sighed. "I probably shouldn't have done that. Well, when I came in, I saw Ranma and Shampoo... Ranma was on all fours and hissed at Shampoo, who was in her cat form. I realized that she must have awakened the Neko-ken.

Well, what I did next was pretty careless of me... I figured, with Akane not nearby, I could be able to calm down Ranma in his feral state." She looked down. "It seems I was wrong. For some reason, Ranma reacted all hostile towards me when I approached. I stumbled backwards and fell. While he slowly approached me, Shampoo must have ran into the kitchen, because I could see her coming into the room shortly after, in the nude, her body dripping with water. She kicked Ranma away from me, but that only made him angry. Now he attacked her, and I could see that she had trouble defending herself against him. I should have fled to get some help at that point... but I believed I had to do something to help Shampoo. So I got a large frying pan from the kitchen and tried to knock Ranma out from behind."

"Kasumi..." Soun murmured. His eldest daughter had never been interested in the arts, so he really couldn't see why she thought she could simply knock down Ranma with a frying pan.

"It was a silly idea, I know... but I just wanted to help them both. Sadly, Ranma noticed me and knocked the pan out of my hands." She shuddered. "Things kinda got blurry after that, but... I remember lying on the ground, with a sharp pain in my chest. Ranma was standing in front of me, on his two legs, and Shampoo was lying unconscious on the ground."

Kasumi really looked sad now. "Ranma kept shaking his head and saying 'No!' over and over again. I... I could see how his hands were shaking. He then stumbled backwards, against an old shelf that was filled with what looked like Chinese artifacts. Some of the stumbled over and broke on the floor... The last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness was that Ranma screamed out loudly... and then a bright flash. Well, maybe it was just my imagination... but I believe that Ranma was gone even before I closed my eyes."

Cologne shivered. She knew she should have locked away some of the old, magical artifacts. "Kasumi... this is very, very important! Do you remember which artifact Ranma touched before he vanished?"

"Well, there ave been so many various things, and I couldn't quite concentrate in that moment, but... I believe it was a mirror."

"A mirror?" Genma asked in alarm. "Not that mirror that brought us back in time?"

"I believe it looked kinda different... it was a mirror that would normally hang on a wall, and it was really surprising that it didn't shatter on the floor, that's why it caught my eye in the first place."

With a loud clatter, Cologne's stick fell to the ground.

Shampoo looked at her great-grandmother in alarm, and the other occupants of the room looked at her in surprise as well.

"No, that can't be..." the old woman muttered to herself. "After all that time... not THAT mirror..." She groaned. "And I believed I already got rid of it..."

"What do you mean, Cologne?" Nodoka asked. "Do you know what happened to my Ranma? Can we find him again? What is that mirror?"

Cologne buried her face in her hands. "I hoped... I hoped I would never have to deal with that person again, but if what I suspect is true, then... then it's the mirror... of Bleu!"


	2. Bedroom Brawl

Bleu, also known to other people as Deis, was residing within her little desert cave, her upper torso comfortably resting on top of her green coils. All around her, her spirit guardians were floating, doing the domestic chores.

The snake woman sighed as she looked into the crystal ball that was attached to her magical rod. In it, she could see a young girl in the garments of a fighter, with much sorrow written on her furry face.

"And for all those years I have been hoping that she might forget her previous life..." She sighed. "Guess I was wrong..."

She turned around her head when one of her spirit servants came floating up to her. "Lady Bleu, we just finished with the weekly cleaning of your dwelling. Do you have some other wish?"

The sorceress absent-mindedly waved her hand. "No, you can leave... I'll call you if I need you again."

The ghost nodded. "As you wish, mistress!"

The five or so spirits then simply vanished into the cavern's floor. Bleu really liked to have them around, servants like that could come in handy sometimes...

But today, she preferred to be by herself for a while... She had to think about what her actions had caused.

Especially for a certain, red-haired Woren girl now commonly known as Katt.

"Did I do a mistake?" she muttered to herself. "Should I have left you alone when I heard your mental cries of anguish? You did find good friends in this world, after all..."

Suddenly, her thoughts were being interrupted by a blue flash, coming from a certain mirror that was hanging in one corner of her cave.

"Bleu, where are you? I know you can hear me, so answer me, dammit!"

With a sigh, the serpentine sorceress unsnarled her coils and slithered over to the mirror. She recognized that voice very well...

"Well, look who finally called," she said as she was in front of the mirror. "Long time no see, Cologne-chan!"

"Spare me that nonsense!" the wrinkled, Chinese matriarch that was visible in the mirror snapped back. "I've just learned that a certain young man from my homeworld got in contact with your mirror - yes, the same mirror I am just looking into - and I would like to know what happened to him. Admit it - this is one of your stupid little ploys, is it?"

"Why, Cologne, I'm hurt! Please, let's not jump to conclusions here, okay? What makes you believe I know anything of a boy that vanished in your world? Do you even know for sure that it was my mirror who made him vanish?"

"Don't play any games with me, Bleu, I'm not in the mood for this! Admit it already, you saw him, right? The mirror has never left your possession, and I know that none of my other artifacts would have made him disappear into thin air like that. I also have the testimony of a very believable witness who saw that the boy touched your mirror... so where is he?"

Bleu sighed. She knew Cologne wouldn't stop pestering her until she either told her the truth or she buried her mirror fifty feet below the desert's sand.

As she treasured her magical mirror, she decided to confess.

"Alright, I admit it, it was I who pulled him into our world. Satisfied?"

"How... how could you do this, Bleu? You have never acted this irrational before. Have you ever thought about what his family would think? Or his friends? What about the girl he loves?"

"Love? LOVE? I'll tell you what I think about that! I looked into Ranma's mind, and what I found within his memories shocked me. SHOCKED, with a capital S! That poor boy never could feel the true 'joie de vivre', as the French put it. His parents wanted to turn him into the perfect Martial Artist and never considered if there might be something else he's interested in. His mother always pestered him to be 'manly' and even made him sign a Seppuku contract! His father is a greedy fool that sells his son's hand for food, brings him to a cursed place and uses more than questionable training practices. I don't have to remind you about the Neko-ken, do I?"

"Well... true, but from what I know, he still loves them, does he? And what about his fiancee and friends?"

"His fiancee? Don't make me laugh! The only thing that girl cares about is to satisfy her own delusions. 'All boys are perverts!' 'Ranma no baka!' Sound familiar? And I don't want to get started about all the other people in his life. They have all been after him, either to marry him against his own will, to kill him, or both! And you and your dim-witted tribe of barbarians just added to the Chaos!" The sorceress shook her head. "No, Cologne! He might miss his home, but he has it much better in this new world! He has TRUE friends now, and he knows what it means to be accepted... even though I should maybe say 'she' instead of 'he'."

"Aren't you a bit overreacting?" Cologne sweatdropped. "And what do you mean, 'she'?"

Bleu shrugged. "I decided to help him a bit further to come to terms with what he - now she - is. I altered the curse, removing his male side completely. Now she will never have to worry about being splashed with cold water anymore."

"WHAT?! But why did you remove his MALE side, Bleu? He was born a male, you know?"

"Might be," the snake woman said. "But he also had massive difficulties to accept a female as what she is... You know, all that anti-female-propaganda his father had drilled into his head? Now she had no choice but to come to terms with her femininity, and look at how happy she is! And while I was at it, I also did something about that horrible phobia of his."

"Don't tell me... you managed to cure his fear of cats?"

"Well, kinda... she cured herself, I would say. I just turned her into a Woren... you remember, the cat-people from my world?"

"BLEU!!" the Amazon matriarch screeched. "How is THAT supposed to help with his fear? You could have given the poor boy... well, girl... a serious trauma!"

"Well, I used some mental magic to make sure that she would not suffer any permanent damage from it... and in the end, she did what she did with her 'girl problem'... she overcame her fear and accepted what she was. And besides, the number of Worens in my world has dropped at an alarming rate over the past years... so I took care of that problem at the same time."

"I don't believe you..." Cologne shook her head. "You are seriously telling me that being separated from his family, being robbed of his manhood and being turned into a cat-person hasn't made a mental wreck out of him?"

Bleu shrugged. "Well, I helped her find a new job, at a coliseum... and of course I never told her that it was I who brought her here. I just said it was a magical accident... and that the path who brought her here would only go one way."

"And therefore you destroyed her final hope of ever returning home," Cologne seethed.

"Well, it only helped her, see? Now that she believes there will never be a way back to that hellhole of a life she had, she won't make her life even more miserable to try and find a way back."

"Bleu, her life wasn't nearly as miserable as you describe it. And who does she know in your world? No one!"

"That's where you are wrong, Cologne-chan!" the snake woman smirked knowingly. "Just two months after working in the coliseum, she met a young warrior who was on his own journey to save a friend... and together with various other companions, they went on a dangerous quest to stop an evil force from conquering this world."

She spread her arms. "All of these brave heroes, including sweet little moi, are better friends to her than those lunatics from your 'Nerima' will ever be."

Cologne sighed and stayed silent for a short while.

"You know I won't stay silent with this, right?" she then spoke up again. "As it was my own great-granddaughter who brought Ranma - indirectly - in contact with your mirror, I see it as my duty to tell his family where he has vanished to. And I will also tell them that there is a way to get him back... And believe me, Bleu, when I meet Ranma ever again..."

"Katt!" Bleu interrupted. "Her new name is Katt!"

"Whatever! If I ever meet her again, I swear, I will tell her the truth about what you did! And then you'll see that she will prefer her REAL home over that false life in your world."

Cologne's wrinkled face vanished from the mirror, and shortly after, the blue shimmering of its surface went out.

Bleu groaned as she collapsed on top of her coils. "Well, nuts!" she grumbled. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

* * *

Princess Nina of Windia was sitting inside her chamber, carefully preening her shiny, black wings.

She was glad that finally, the residents of her kingdom were accepting her in spite of her black wings. As for that old granny who had spread the rumor that her black wings would one day bring misfortune for the royal family... well, her father had her fired.

Still, she was a bit sad, as the reason she had to learn so much about what it meant to be a princess, was that her younger sister, Mina, was not able to fill the part of the crown princess anymore... as she had sacrificed her humanity to become the Big Bird.

True, she kept her human mind, and she only did so because the heroic group of friends Nina was a part of needed some sort of transportation to the island where Evrai, the main headquarters of the deceitful St. Eva church, was situated.

Still, the original plan had been that it was Nina who wanted herself to be turned into the Great Bird... but as Mina didn't want her older sister to suffer more than she already had by the results from being banished from the castle, she took her place.

Well, at least she was in good hands with the royal caretakers... and she got to enjoy the freedom of flight.

Nina's thoughts got interrupted, when someone knocked at her door.

One of her chambermaids looked into her room. "Princess Nina... your friends have arrived!"

Nina smiled as she stood up from the stool in front of her mirror. She had been looking forward to this visit for weeks.

"Please, let them in."

The chambermaid bowed, her own white wings almost knocking over the vase that was standing next to the door. "Right away, my lady!"

Shortly after she vanished, two familiar faces appeared in the door.

Katt grinned as she stepped into the royal bedroom. "Heya, Nina! How's our favorite princess today?"

Nina chuckled. Her best friend's cheerful manner always managed to improve her mood. "Hello, Katt! Patty, it's been a long time!"

The dragon-winged girl stepped in behind her feline friend. "Well, we had nothing better to do, so we just had to make a tour around the world to visit our friends, right? Hey, nice dress!"

Nina looked down at the pale blue dress she was wearing. "Well, yes... my mother insisted I should wear at least sometimes some garments that are befitting a princess..." She sighed. "I still prefer my old wizard robes, though..."

"Well, I like it," Patty said approvingly. "It suits your black wings."

"Th-thank you," Nina blushed. "Um, and what do you think, Katt?"

"Well, I'm no expert," the Woren replied. "But I think it looks good. Still, I would never wear it myself..."

Patty giggled. "Yeah, you're more the tomboyish person, I know."

"Hey, a dress wouldn't do any good in the coliseum, right?" Katt asked impishly.

"Weeellll, I don't know..." Nina said with amusement. "Maybe not a dress, but what about a short skirt? Just the right thing to distract your male opponents, right?"

"Oh, ha ha, very funny!" Katt grumbled as her two winged friends laughed.

"Okay then, shall we go downstairs?" Nina asked. "We have prepared a big banquet just for your visit... and I still haven't introduced you to my parents, Patty!"

"Um... you really think the king and queen are willing to meet a person like me? I mean, I am known as 'Phantom Thief'..."

"Oh, they know that you are Ryu's sister, as well as my friend, so they would treat you as they would any visitor to the castle. Don't be so shy now, they won't bite."

"Um, okay... if you say so..."

Katt snickered as she followed Nina and the reluctant Patty.

But just as they were going to leave the room, a strange noise was heard behind them.

Patty blinked. "That somehow sounded as if... someone just flushed a toilet."

"What's going on here?" Nina asked as she turned around. Then she gasped. "Oh no, my bed!"

On top of her bed, a tangled mass of bodies was squirming, as the four people up there were trying to get free from each other, and the silky bed sheets that had wrapped themselves around their limbs and torsos.

"Ack! Ryoga, you're heavy! Get off me!"

"I would like to, but - GARGL - whatever has wrapped itself around my neck is choking me..."

"Ukyo, get your spatula out of my face!"

"I can't! Shampoo is clinging to my leg!"

"A-HEM!"

The loud cough made the four teenagers turn around their heads in confusion.

The blonde, attractive girl that was dressed in an elaborate, pale blue gown, and had black wings sprouting out of her backside, was standing in front of them... and she didn't look to amused.

"May I ask who you are... and what you are doing in my bedroom?"

"Um, sorry about that," the boy with the spotted bandana around his head muttered as he freed himself from the bed sheets. "We appeared her by accident..."

"With your sense of direction, I wonder we didn't end up in Antarctica, sugar," the girl with the strange tools strapped to her body murmured, while a lavender-haired girl was clinging to her leg. "Shampoo, let go of me already!"

"We shouldn't have brought her with us..." the short-haired girl grumbled as she stood up from the bed. "I mean, as soon as we find Ranma, she will hang all over him again, I'm sure."

The lavender-haired girl looked hurt, but she didn't reply, instead, she just let go of her friend's leg and sat down on the bed quietly.

"Excuse me, but you still haven't answered my question!" Nina said in an irritated voice. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm Akane Tendo, this is Ryoga Hibiki, and over there are Ukyo Kuonji and... Shampoo."

"Okay, but what are you doing here?"

Ryoga scratched his head. "Well, as I said, we came here by accident... Actually, we are looking for a friend of ours, Ranma..."

A dull 'thud' suddenly made them all look over to the other side of the room, where a certain girl with red hair and a tiger-striped tail had just collapsed on the ground. Her finger was pointing right at the four strangers and was shaking uncontrollably, while tears were appearing in her eyes.

"A... A... Akane...? G... guys...? How... how are you...? I thought..."

Akane and the other looked past the winged princess and saw the miserable cat-girl sitting on the floor.

Akane frowned. "Do we know her?"

Ukyo laughed. "Oh, come on! How many cat girls have we ever met in our life?"

Ryoga looked closer. "I don't know, but... guys, just imagine a pigtail attached to the back of her head, and think away the fur and tail... who do you see?"

Akane gasped. "RANMA!"

After hearing that name for a long time again, the young Woren suddenly pulled back and crouched in the corner of the room. "I'm... I'm not... I'm not who I used to be, Akane... I can't... I can't turn back..."

Now Patty and Nina were confused. Turn back into what? Who were those guys? Why does their appearance seem to frighten Katt that much?

"Ranma, please, look at me!" Akane pleaded and took a step closer. Katt winced and shuffled even further away.

Patty had seen enough. "Hey, I don't know who you are, but can't you see you're scaring her? And why are you calling her 'Ranma'? Her name is Katt!"

Akane stared at the blue-winged dragon girl. "I just happen to be her fiancee, and we haven't seen each other for two years."

"Her FIANCEE?" Patty shouted in surprise. She looked over at her friend. "Katt, you never told me you were a lesbian!"

"I'm... I'm not," Katt said in a quiet voice. She seemed to calm down a bit more. "Well, I... it's a long story, Patty..."

"I don't get it..." Ukyo said while shaking her head. "If that is Ranma, why... Why does she look like a cat?"

"Ukyo, you didn't listen to what Cologne told us, right?" Ryoga groaned. "Somehow, when she came here, she got turned into THIS! And on top of that, she lost her male form."

"It doesn't matter," Akane said. "I finally found you again, Ranma... you can come back! We... we will find a way to cure you, don't worry! C'mon, let's go!"

She stretched out her hand, but before she could touch the flinching Woren, Nina stepped in front of her. "Excuse me, but whatever your reason to be here is, you can't just come and take her with you. I want to hear the full story behind this, understood?" Nina was now in full princess-mode.

Akane frowned back at her. "And who are you? Another new fiancee hussy? Listen, girl, I'm already fed up with those two pieces of excess baggage back there..." ("Hey!" Ukyo shouted.) "...and I'm not going to let you take away my Ranma!"

Nina gasped and stuttered: "H-hussy? HUSSY?" She was downright shocked, no one had ever talked to her like this, even back when nobody knew that she was of noble birth.

But this...

"Listen up, I am the crown princess of Windia, and your behavior within my very own chambers is an OUTRAGE! Apologize, or I will have the guards escort you out of my castle... or into the dungeons, if you prefer!"

"Why you little..." Akane snarled.

She was going to take another step towards the black-winged princess, but Shampoo quickly stepped in-between them and shook her head.

"What do you want, Shampoo? Out of the way!"

Shampoo again firmly shook her head and spread her arms. Her message was clear: No fighting!

Ukyo decided to intervene: "Listen, sugar... Um, I mean, your majesty... we didn't mean to insult you. My friend here is just a bit... edgy, that's all! I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding."

"What are you doing, Ukyo?" Akane hissed. "Are you going to listen to that bi..."

"Akane, insulting a member of royalty within her own castle is not what I consider a wise thing to do... Besides, maybe we really misunderstood something... It's not as if we know about the whole story here."

"Very well, you seem to have more common sense than your... friend," Nina sighed, glad that she didn't have to call for the guards. "Okay then, tell me your story!"

"They're... old friends of mine..." Katt's small voice suddenly spoke up from the corner of the room. "Friends I never... never expected to see again."

"Oh... I see," Nina said. "But what was that about a fiancee? Is it common practice in your home country to engage two members of the same gender?"

"But she's a boy!" Ryoga tried to explain.

Patty and Nina looked at their feline friend, then they gave Ryoga weird looks.

"Ryoga, it has been nice of you to come along as our bodyguard, but please leave this to me," Ukyo sighed. "Listen, Ranma..."

"Her name is KATT!" Patty snapped.

Ukyo grimaced. "Okay, KATT... isn't really a girl. She was born as a boy. He just has been changed by... a curse."

"A curse?" Nina looked at Katt. "I've never heard of a curse that has changed a person's gender..."

"She... she is right... kinda..." Katt sighed.

"Okay, NOW I'm curious," Patty said. "And confused..."

"It is a long story, as I said," Katt sighed as she stood up. "Nina, can your parents wait for a while until we start with dinner? This might take some time..."


	3. Tell it to your plants

Now Katt had much to tell. To Nina and Patty, where she came from and how she got into this world in the first place. To her old friends from Nerima, what happened to her since she got here.

When she was finished, everyone was astonished and speechless.

Patty shook her head. "And for all that time, I never knew you were..."

"A boy?" Katt asked.

Her dragon-winged friend nodded. "Well, yeah!"

Katt sighed. "Many things happened since I came here, Patty... I thought I would never be able to leave again... I had to come to terms with what I was... with WHO I was. And well..." She looked down at the floor. "I don't think there's much of a boy left in me..."

"But Ranma!" Akane protested. "We have to find a way to turn you back into who you were. Don't you want to be a boy again?"

"Akane... two years ago, I would still have seized any chance to turn back into who I once was. But now..." She looked down at her furry arms. "This is who I am now. I am Katt, a Woren warrior, and a companion of Ryu the 'Savior Dragon', as they call him. I like it this way. And, to be honest..." She looked into the face of her former fiancee. "I don't think I want to go back to what I was."

"But Ranma..." Akane saw the cat-girl wince and decided to use her new name for now. "Katt... what about your parents? Don't you want to see them again?"

"Of course I do! And don't get me wrong, I am overjoyed to see all of you again. But... don't you think Mom and Pops couldn't accept me... as I am now?"

Ukyo snorted. Genma and accepting his son as a girl? Hell would freeze over before that happened.

"How... how did you get here in the first place?" Katt then asked. "I as told that... it was very unlikely for someone to cross the barriers between the worlds. That's why I gave up hope of ever coming back..."

"Well, we never knew where you were..." Akane explained. "But see, Kasumi woke up from her coma, just a few days ago."

"WHAT?" Katt shouted. "She was in coma? Oh no, what have I done..." Once again, it seemed like the Woren was drowning in self-reproaches.

"Relax," Ukyo said. "She is fine, and she doesn't blame you! In fact, she can't wait for you to come home... everyone wants to have you back, fur or no fur."

Shampoo, who was sitting next to the Okonomiyaki chef, nodded eagerly. Katt couldn't help but notice how well the fiancees seemed to get along with each other... and how silent Shampoo was.

"Well, as I was gonna say, when Kasumi woke up, she told us about some strange mirror she had seen lying next to you before she passed out. Cologne could immediately tell what kind of mirror that was... even though she didn't tell us that much about it. She quickly ran back to the Nekohanten, and when she came back, she told us she knew where you would be."

"Yeah, she even said she could bring four of us to this world where you have vanished to," Ukyo nodded. "And, well, the three of us were the most eager to come... and Ryoga said he wanted to come along as well."

Katt smirked at her former rival. "Ryoga, I never knew you cared so much about me."

"I d-d-didn't," Ryoga protested. "I just wanted to make sure that Akane and the others wouldn't run into any trouble..."

"Okay, so how did Cologne bring you here?"

"With the same mirror," Akane explained. She even put in a small 'homing spell' which should bring us to your current location. As for our return, she said you would know where the other mirror would be... the one you came out of after appearing in this world."

"Well, that would be the one in Bleu's cave..." Katt suddenly stopped herself in mid-sentence and her mouth stayed open for a while. "Bleu..." she whispered.

"What?" Nina asked in confusion. "What does she have to do with that?"

"Bleu? Who is that?" Ukyo asked curiously.

"She... she is a sorceress... she was the first person I met after coming to this world... and the mirror is in her possession. But she... she was also the one who told me there was no way back."

"Huh? But why would she do this?" Patty wondered. "I mean, she has been your friend even before we met her..."

"A great friend..." Akane frowned. "If she was her friend, why would she lie at her like that?"

"Maybe she doesn't even know that her mirrors has those abilities..." Ryoga pondered.

"You don't know Bleu," Nina sighed. "She is the most powerful sorceress I've ever met in my life... if there is a magical artifact in her possession, she must know about its features."

"She... she was so nice to me..." Katt muttered. "She helped me to overcome my fear of cats... and thanks to her, I could accept that I was stuck as a female Woren. And she... she also helped me get that job at the Coliseum..."

She jumped to her feet and grabbed her head. "Why did she lie to me? Why? I thought... I thought she was my friend..."

With an angry sob, she turned around and ran out of the room.

"Katt, wait!" Patty shouted and wanted to run after her. But Nina held her back.

"Leave her alone for now, Patty! I can figure there is much going on in her head... she wants to be alone for a while. And I know her good enough to say that she won't go far from the castle."

She turned around to her guests from Nerima. "I suppose you are pretty much disappointed... you came here in search for someone who isn't quite who you knew anymore... But let's just hope she will at least decide to stay your friend." She bowed. "Please, accept my invitation and stay for the night. The castle has enough guest rooms for everyone. And I'm sorry for what happened..."

"Oh no, I'm have to apologize," Akane said with a blush. "I'm... I'm sorry I called you a (ahem) hussy. Now that I've heard about you from Ran... Katt, I see that you were just a friend to her."

The princess of Windia smiled. "No need for you to apologize! Now that I know your side of the story, I can kinda understand how you must have felt to see her in our presence... But, excuse me for a while, my parents must wonder where I and my guests may be. Let me go to them and explain the situation as best as I can."

* * *

Katt just wanted to leave everything behind her for a while. Her new friends as well as her old friends. She ran down the castle's stairs, past the surprised guards that were standing next to the castle's main gates, through the whole town and into the woods that surrounded Windia.

She wasn't concerned about any monsters or wild animals that might lurk around... she knew she was strong enough to take on the weak beasts that were inhabiting the wilderness near Windia.

She walked through the woods until she found a small stump, on which she sat down with a sigh.

"I am Katt, a member of the Woren tribe," she murmured. "I learned so much about my new species that I can now see me as a real member of my new race... and I don't feel uncomfortable as a female any more. In fact, the thought of returning to my former, male body, somehow seems... wrong. But I am comfortable like this, and I'm pretty sure Mom and my friends will accept me, even like this."

She sighed. "Pops... he will be a problem. But still, if he really loves me as his child, he will have no choice but to accept me as his new daughter. But Akane... Akane... Damn, this is going to be tough..."

The feline warrior closed her eyes and imagined Akane's face in front of her. "Do I still love her? And if yes, does that make me a lesbian? I am so happy to see her again, but... I can say the same thing about Ukyo and Shampoo, and even Ryoga. Is she nothing but a very close friend to me now? I know I don't want to disappoint her... And Bleu..." She growled. "Why didn't she tell me I could go back? Why did she keep her mirror a secret? Was all that friendship of hers just... an act?"

"I don't think friendship is something that someone can pretend like that," a voice suddenly spoke up behind her.

Katt got startled and jumped to her feet. When she turned around, she saw a familiar face. "Spar?"

The infamous 'grass man' smiled at her. "I couldn't help but overhear your problems, my friend."

"But... what are you doing here, this far away from the Great Sea of Trees?" the catgirl wondered.

Spar gestured at the trees that surrounded them. "The forest itself told me that you two would visit Windia today... and when I heard that, I thought you would like to see another old friend again as well. So I decided to come here for a visit... you didn't want to search for me in my big home forest, did you?"

Katt chuckled. "No, I don't think we would be even able to find our way through all those trees without your guidance... but why didn't you come to the castle?"

"Well, you know that I don't like big crowds... so I decided to stay here in the Windia forest until the evening, when most people would be at home."

Spar then looked at his friend firmly. "From what I heard, you have finally found your family and some old friends again... are congratulations in order?"

"Well, kinda..." Katt sighed. "I know I wanna see them all again, but... there's something you should know about me..."

"You mean that you have been a boy before coming to this world?"

Katt was shocked. "How did you know...?"

The grass man smiled. "Katt, I can talk to every plant on this world, and you should know that there is a very old pine tree growing in front of Princess Nina's bedroom window..."

"Oh, that's how," Katt said. "Alright, then you must realize that I'm in a pickle... You know, I don't want to hurt my former fiancee, but at the same time, how can I make her understand that I now feel more comfortable as a girl?"

Spar shook his head and chuckled.

Katt frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, excuse me," the member of the plant clan smirked. "I just find it amusing... how you mammals are concerned about your gender."

Katt blinked. "Excuse me?"

Spar spread his arms. "Don't you see realize that gender means nothing for trees and other plants? I am aware that there is a difference between male and female for your species, but does it really matter? If your friends can accept you as what you are, and if you are uncomfortable as a male, why even consider becoming male? If your friend can't accept that, she can't possible call herself a good friend, can she?"

"But... but she LOVES me," Katt protested. "Or at least I think so..."

"Does she love you? Or your male form? If she really loves you, she must accept your current form and your decisions."

"But... I'm not a lesbian..." Katt said weakly.

"I'm not quite familiar with that word, but if it means you are a female that likes females... what's wrong with that? Take me, for instance: I never have seen myself as either male or female, but after the carnival brought me to the human towns, everyone started to address me as the 'grass man', just because of my appearance. I simply didn't bother to explain everyone who visited my tent that members of my clan don't really have a gender... so I accepted their decision to see me as a female."

"But when you merge with the Water Shaman, you..."

"I turn into a girl you mean? Well, just on the outside! I once asked Seso why she chose exactly this form for me, and she replied: Because I look cute like that. I remember her words: 'If you have no actual gender, does it matter?' It's funny, really, but with that sentence she practically cited my whole life motto."

Katt thought about what Spar had just told her. Of course she wasn't a plant, so there was a difference between male and female for her.

She didn't feel comfortable as a male anymore, she already knew as much.

But if Akane really loved her... would she be ready to accept her as she was?

"I've decided, Spar!" she then said. "As long as there is a possibility to return to either world, I'm going back to Nerima - at least to pay my friends and family a visit. But I'm going to stay like this... I already made that decision two years ago! I am Katt, warrior of the Woren tribe... even if my parents are human."

She nodded to herself. "I am at home in TownShip... and in Nerima!"

* * *

"I really have to thank you, Spar!" Katt said as she and her herbal friend were walking back through the forest, to Windia. "It was a good thing to hear the opinion of a person that's not as affected by the situation as you..."

"On the contrary," Spar answered back. "If there is something I have learned from you mammals, it's the meaning of true friendship."

"I just hope Akane isn't going to blow a fuse when she learns about my decision..." the Woren sighed. "She gets easily short-tempered... also, I already dread Ukyo's and Shampoo's reactions. Although, Shampoo seemed unusually calm today..."

Spar smiled. "You have to introduce me to those friends of yours. Maybe I can help you convince them to respect your decision."

"Thanks, you're a great fr..." She turned around when suddenly, Spar stopped abruptly."

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked. "Why are you rooted to the spot like that all of a sudden, if you forgive me the pun?"

"I don't know..." the plant man murmured. "Something's wrong... The forest tells me... there's danger!"

Katt took her stick off her back and looked around. "Are you sure? But... where?" The fur on her ears bristled.

"I'd say... right THERE!" And suddenly, Spar's whip came shooting out of his sleeve, as if it was hidden in there all along - although Katt knew the truth: The whip, as well as the 'dress' that Spar was wearing, were actually grass and vines that were growing directly out of his body.

The vine whip flew into the treetops, where it collided with something. A sudden yelp, and a dark shape fell out of the tree.

"They spotted us!" a loud voice yelled. "Grab them, quickly!"

And then, several other bodies came dropping down from the treetops. As their fallen comrade, they were all dressed in leather or rags, and were dirty and filthy. What stood out most about them was the crimson bandana that everyone of them was wearing... and when she saw those red bandanas, Katt instantly knew who they were.

"The Joker Gang!" she shouted.

"Really?" Spar asked. "I've heard of them... but didn't they disband some time ago?"

"Yeah, right after Ryu and I helped Nina to beat their boss, Joker..."

"We have a new boss now!" one of the ruffians said in a cocky voice. "And he wants to have a talk with you, cat!"

"If you use my name, use it properly!" the Woren hissed. "It's KATT! And who would be stupid enough to lead such boneheads as you and your pals voluntarily?"

"All right, you asked for some trouble, girl... Get them, boys!"

Experienced, Katt twirled around her stick and effectively blocked an array of thrown daggers. "Those guys are the same as always, no challenge... At least make it a challenge, boys!"

"Don't get too confident yet," Spar replied as he swung his whip around to hold off the bandits. "They must have something up their sleeve, or else they wouldn't dare attacking us that close to Windia. I just wonder... Katt, look out behind you!"

"Huh? Wha..." Katt had barely time to turn around, before something pricked her arm. She pulled out the tiny object and looked at it.

"Oh no..." she murmured as she realized what it was... a tranquilizer dart.

"I'll get you bastards for this..." she uttered as her eyes started to close and her whole body slumped down to the ground.

"This isn't good..." Spar murmured as he tried to protect his friend's sleeping body from the approaching bandits. "Get away from her, you villains!"

But he had never been one of the strongest fighters among the group of heroic fighters that saved the world alongside Ryu... Under normal circumstances, he would have easily be able to fend off the hoodlums, but not this many.

Still, he wouldn't give up that easily. "Don't worry, my friend," he said to the unconscious feline next to him. "I won't let them take you, for whatever reason they would want to take you away!"

Soft snoring was the answer.

Spar twirled around, used his whip to sweep two Jokers off their feet, turned around and... his whip hit a massive mountain of muscle.

The towering form of the muscle-bound man in front of him grinned widely. "Try that again, plant brain!"

Spar sweated as he realized that this guy wasn't your average hoodlum... someone who could shake off his attack like that meant trouble.

"Time to chop some grass!" the giant said as he raised his massive axe.

"Yeah, show him, Baba!" the other Jokers cheered.

Spar had to jump back quite a distance to avoid being hacked in half by that enormous weapon. Baba? Now that was a weird name. "I won't let you... take my friend!"

The man called Baba just grinned. "Take care of him, guys... I have to bring the boss a little present."

And while the other bandits jumped in front of him, once again threatening Spar with their knives, clubs and short swords, he picked up the unmoving body of Katt and carried her away.

"Give up!" one of the bandits, an ugly guy wearing an eyepatch said. "You can't win!"

"You know... I just had enough of you crooks." The plant man grumbled.

He focussed all of his thoughts on the flora that surrounded him. He did what all members of his tribe did when they were in danger... He called upon Nature itself!

And Tree answered his call!

One of the massive oaks that was growing nearby suddenly came to life, swung around its hard branches and knocked down a dozen of surprised hoodlums.

"NOOOO!" the eyepatched crook screamed in terror as he witnessed this display of Nature's Wrath. "I'm not a vegetarian, I swear!"

In a panic, the bandits that weren't knocked out by the tree's assault, fled in a panic.

Satisfied, Spar walked over to the trunk of the big oak, who was once again as still as he was supposed to be, and patted his bark. "Thank you, my friend... I think they had enough."

Then he was saddened. "Although it was not enough to help my friend... I wonder what this mysterious new leader of the Jokers plans to do with Katt." He retracted his whip and started running towards the castle. He had to inform Princess Nina and Katt's other friends...


	4. Shampoo and Spar

"One thing is for sure," Spar murmured to himself as he reached Windia. "Living in this world is never boring..."

The people of Windia threw him a few astonished looks, for it was very rare for a member of the plant tribe to leave the forest. But Spar didn't himself be bothered by that. The only thing important was now that he reached the castle, so he could inform Nina.

"Spar, is that you?"

Surprised, Spar turned around and recognized a familiar person that was approaching him.

"Bow?" he asked. "Why are you here?"

"I'm on the hunt," the antropomorphic dog explained. "Our hunter's guild has received several hints that the Joker Gang might be active again in the surrounding woods of HomeTown, Coursair and Windia. Our elder gave me the order to find out more, so we could send a bigger group of hunters to deal with them."

"Well, I just had the honor of running into a few of them..." Spar said with a frown. "Their leader was called Baba... and they kidnapped Katt!"

"WHAT?" Bow said with a sudden snarl. "Damn those... quick, did they say where they were coming from?"

"Not really," Spar shook his head. "They only said they wanted to take her to their new leader..."

"Ah, then they must have taken their to their hideout, I already know where that is. Thank you, buddy! But I have to hurry... if they ever did anything to harm her..." Again, the young hunter showed off his sharp fangs.

"Wait a minute, Bow!" Spar stopped him. "I just wanted to inform Nina... she has a few guests, friends of Katt... maybe we should go together!"

"Sorry, but I have no time to wait for Nina now!" Bow yelled back as he started running. "But she already knows where the Jokers' hideout is... come after me as soon as you can!"

"Well, all right!"

"Katt, I'm coming!" the dog-man shouted as he ran out of town.

Spar shook his head. Now it made sense to him... the way Katt and Bow had looked at each other during the final part of their adventure...

He knew they would have to tell this to Katt's old friends sooner or later... but for now, they had more urgent problems.

He went to the castle and approached the guards. "Excuse me, but I am a friend of Princess Nina, and I have an urgent message for her..."

* * *

"What?" Akane shouted. "Ranma was being kidnapped?"

"Impossible!" Ukyo said with determination. "Ranma would have never let a bunch of thieves capture him like that!"

"Will you ever learn it, you two?" Patty groaned. "HER name is KATT!"

"All right already..." Ukyo said grumpily. "But still, that Ran... Katt would get knocked out so easily..."

"They didn't knock her out, they shot her with a poisoned needle... most likely with a sleeping drug," Spar explained. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect her..." He looked down.

"It's not your fault, Spar!" Nina assured him. "But we have to go now, who knows what the bandits will do to her?"

"Maybe it's revenge," Ryoga assumed. "You told me that you, Katt and this Ryu guy defeated their leader some time ago, right?"

The winged princess nodded. "Yes, and if they're still using the same hideout, we might just have a chance of saving her."

"IF she needs some help..." Akane muttered. "Back in our world, Ranma had always been able to free himself from such situations."

"Well, this world is kinda different," Patty pointed out. "More magic, more monsters... although Katt had two years to adapt..."

"I'll go to the royal armory and see if we can use some of the new armor our blacksmiths crafted last week," Nina said. "Wait for me in the entrance hall, I'll be back soon."

With those words, she left. Patty shrugged and walked through the door as well. "You coming?" she asked Spar and the Nerimians.

"I think this is a waste of time..." Ryoga muttered. "She is strong enough to handle things by herself."

"Shut up, Ryoga!" Akane said. "I don't want to risk anything... this is my fiance we are talking about!"

"Um, about that..." Patty spoke up.

"Excuse me, but we really don't have the time for this," Spar sighed. "If we don't hurry, both Bow and Katt will be in trouble."

"Why Bow?" Patty asked in confusion.

"Well, I met him in town, and when I told him that Katt was being kidnapped, he went to save her all by himself... there's nothing I could have done to stop him. But he asked me to hurry and come after him as soon as Nina is informed."

"Well, then Her Highness better hurries..." Ukyo muttered as they arrived in the castle's entrance hall. "How long does it take to get to that damn armory anyway?"

"What would we need armor or weapons for anyway?" Ryoga grumbled. "My fists are all what I need."

"Well excuuuse me, mister, but there are a few among us that aren't trained in unarmed combat," Patty pointed out.

While the prattling went on, Spar couldn't help but notice the silent beauty that was standing aloof.

He approached her. "Excuse me..."

She was startled, so he believed she might have been in thoughts. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Sorry if I surprised you. Are you all right? You are another of Katt's old friends, are you?"

Shampoo nodded. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"I see..." Spar nodded. "So you can't talk, I presume?"

Shampoo nodded with a sigh. She then took out a tiny notepad and a pen and wrote something on it.

Spar was glad that he had learned how to read and write ever since he met his friends for the first time. "You are Shampoo?" He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Shampoo!"

She smiled back. He was glad that his unusual appearance didn't seem to faze her. She then wrote something else.

'Ranma?'

Spar looked up from the note. "This is what Katt was called back in your world, right?" he asked. Shampoo nodded.

Spar looked at her closely. "You are worried about her. You must have been close friends."

Shampoo buried her face in her hands. Spar wondered whatever caused her to react like this. "I'm sorry if... Was it something I said?"

The lavender-haired girl sniffled a bit and then wrote a new sentence.

'Is my fault Ranma is here. So is my fault he is captured by bandits.'

The main language of the Dragon World didn't seem to be her native language, as Spar could see from her writing.

"I don't know how all of this might be your fault... from what I heard, this was an accident. But don't worry... Katt is hardly a person that holds a grudge. You are a fighter, aren't you? Well, if you help us save her, I think she will be glad."

'Shampoo lousy fighter...' she wrote hastily. 'Has always used tricks to gain Airen...' She paused and scribbled over that last word. Spar wondered what it meant.

'...to gain Ranma's love. But Ranma never loved Shampoo back. Then Shampoo's mistake caused Ranma to disappear... now she won't even be her friend...'

Spar could see that this girl was very troubled by what happened. And even if she did a few mistakes, he realized that she was genuinely sorry.

"I'll tell you what," he said and put his arm over her shoulder in a reassuring manner. "We both do our best to save our friend, and when we have the chance to talk to her, I'll ask her if she is still angry at you. This way you'll be sure if she still wants to be your friend or not."

Shampoo hesitated, but then gave Spar a massive hug, even though it was not a fierce as one of her infamous Amazon Glomps...

With teary eyes, she released the surprised grass man and scribbled another note:

'Thank you!'

* * *

Katt looked around. She was inside a bleak cave that was illuminated by torches. She could see one tunnel on the other side of the cave, but no other exit.

She took a closer look at her cell. It was really nothing more but a squarish, metal frame lying on the ground, surrounding her, but rising up from that frame was a shimmering field of pinkish energy. This energy field formed a big cube, in which she was imprisoned.

Katt carefully rose a finger and moved it towards the shimmering barrier. She winced, already suspecting what would happen.

She only felt a slight tickle that made the fur on her backside stand up.

She frowned. "Well, this barrier sure doesn't seem too solid for me... I think I'll just smash my way through!"

She noticed that someone had taken away her battle stick, but there were still other ways...

She drew back her fist, took a deep breath and smacked it forcefully against the barrier.

A sudden burst of energy threw her backwards. She landed on the hard floor with a groan.

"Okay..." she murmured. "It won't work that way... Damn, I hate magic!"

In her adventure with Ryu and her other new friends, she had tried to use magic, but she had never been able to develop enough skill to cast a spell. Oh, she knew how to perform the necessary gestures... but there was just not enough magic running through her body, as Nina had once explained to her.

"Well, time for plan B," she muttered. She stood up and shouted: "Hello? Anybody there?"

For a while, nothing happened, but then she heard footsteps coming through the tunnel. Finally, a small, but obese man entered the cave and grinned at her. He was bald and wore bandit's clothes.

"Ah, you're awake!" he said. "Fine, fine... then let's discuss what we're going to do with you next, shall we?"

"How about letting me out of here so I can kick your ass?" the Woren snarled. "What's the meaning of this anyway?"

"Patience, little cat!" the man smirked. "But I can see how eager you are to learn the truth... Very well, let me introduce myself: I am Jack... Joker's younger brother!"

"And you have taken over his Joker Gang, I assume," Katt spoke up.

"Precisely!" Jack nodded. Time really has been rough for us since the defeat of our great leader... Back then, I was just one of many subordinates, under my big brother's command. But I never complained: Joker lead us to many successful raids and burglaries, and we were able to live in luxury with the booties we claimed."

He sighed. "But one day, Joker got this strange idea: We should take a magician or sorcerer into the gang, so we could be even more powerful and gather even more goods. He became infatuated with that Nina from the Wizard School in HomeTown, so he sent a few of our men to kidnap her little sister."

Jack shook his head. "All went well until you and your blue-haired warrior friend intervened. Not only did you beat up our best bandits and sneaked into our hideout, no, you even killed my beloved brother!"

He darkly glared at the imprisoned Woren. "Ever since that day, I have sworn to avenge my brother. I took over the leadership of the Joker Gang and made my men search for the three murderers of my brother! After we found out that Nina was back in her parents' kingdom, we decided that we wouldn't be able to reach her. Also, we could never find a trace of your blue-haired friend."

'Of course not!' Katt thought. 'Because he transformed into a Great Dragon and is right now guarding the gates to Infinity.'

Jack then sneered at her gleefully. "But at least I got you! And I will make you pay for what you did!"

"Listen, Jack..." Katt sighed. "We never wanted to kill your brother, we just wanted to help Nina save her sister. In the end, Nina threw a fireball that caused some rubble to rain down from the ceiling, so Joker wouldn't be able to come after us. But just when we were going to flee... he turned into a demon!"

"You lie!" Jack shouted in rage.

"It's true," Katt insisted. "He attacked us savagely after we wanted to take Nina away from that place. We had to kill him, Jack! Or else he would have killed us."

"I don't believe you!" the new leader of the Joker Gang shot back. "My big brother... he would have never allowed something like that to happen to him. We might be a band of criminals... but we have never been in league with demons!"

"You can deny it as much as you want, I was there," Katt replied. "I have seen the beast that your brother has turned into. His obsession with Nina caused him to be possessed by the demon. You told me yourself that he was infatuated with her, right?"

"Shut up!" Jack growled. "I don't believe a word you say!" He raised his finger and pointed at her. "Heed my words, you will die tonight! I came up with a very special way to execute you. As if we can't take your other two friends to join you, your death will have to be even more painful and slow. Enjoy your next few hours, Woren... because they will be your last!"

With an evil laugh, the obese man left the cave, leaving Katt by herself.

"Well, crap!" she grumbled. "That means I have to find a way out of this magic cage before nightfall, or else I'm screwed... just great!"

* * *

Meanwhile, a dark shape was scurrying through the woods near the Jokers' hideout at Mt. Rocko. When he saw two bandits guarding the entrance, he carefully snuck up on them, then knocked one of them out with a wooden club.

The other guard turned around in surprise. "Hey, what...?"

WHACK!

With a groan, the hoodlum slumped down to the ground.

Bow dropped the wooden club to the floor and took his crossbow from his back. He squinted his eyes as he looked into the black hole that was the entrance to Mt. Rocko.

"I'm coming, Katt!" he said with determination.


	5. Puppy Love

When Patty, Spar, Nina and the Nerima Wrecking Crew arrived at Mt. Rocko, the first thing they saw were two unconscious men lying on the ground.

"Looks like Bow was here already..." Nina sighed.

"Are they members of that Joker Gang?" Akane asked.

Nina nodded. "I would recognize those bandanas everywhere, Akane! After all, they were the ones that kidnapped my little sister and wanted to make me their boss's fiancee."

Akane grimaced. She knew how it was, being engaged to someone against her own will. Well, it turned out that she fell in love with Ranma afterwards, but that wasn't the point.

"Let's be careful, though," Spar spoke up. "Bow might have taken care of the guards here, but I doubt that he did this with every single member of the gang. As a hunter, he prefers the sneaky way."

"Are you sure that this was your friend?" Ukyo asked. "Maybe Ranma... Katt broke out of there by herself... or someone else did it."

Spar exchanged a smile with the princess of Windia. "Ukyo, we have travelled with Bow for a long time, and we know the way he acts... it was him, no doubt about that."

With a shrug, Ukyo decided not to say anything else, and together with Ryoga, Akane and Shampoo, she followed their new companions into the cave.

Only shortly afterwards, they noticed a person's shadow behind a corner, cast at the wall by one of the burning torches.

"Careful now!" Nina whispered. "We don't want to inform the whole gang that we're here. Let's wait and see if he goes away first..."

Akane frowned. "That takes far too long. Ryoga, Ukyo..."

Ukyo hefted her spatula with a grin. "Right behind you, sugar!"

And when the warriors of Nerima jumped out of their hiding place, Patty raised her hand in surprise. "Wait, let's not... oh boy!"

Loud shouts of surprise could be heard around the corner, followed by the sounds of someone smacking someone else with a blunt object.

"Never mind..." Patty groaned. "Do they always take care of problems like that?"

Shampoo grinned nervously and nodded. Yes, she used to do things that way too.

* * *

When Jack heard the commotion near his hideout's entrance, he assembled his best thieves and guards in his personal cave.

"What's going on out there?" he wanted to know. "Are we under attack?"

"I think it's the Woren's friends," one of his men said. "But there are also a few warriors we have no information about.

"Crud!" Jack grumbled. "I thought we would have some time before they arrive. Okay, hold them off as good as you can, while I take the prisoner to a 'safe place'." He grinned. "THis will be part of my revenge... she will suffer even more when we kill her friends... in front of her eyes."

* * *

When Bow snuck past a few more hoodlums, he could hear the commotion as well.

"Either Nina is using her more destructive spells or Katt's old friends are much more powerful than I thought..." he mumbled.

Well, as long as they distract the guards, it would make his job much more easier.

After a while, he finally reached the chamber in which Katt was imprisoned.

She raised her head. "Bow?" she asked in surprise when she recognized her friend.

"Don't worry, Katt!" the hunter said with a reassuring smile. "I'll get you out of there in no time."

Katt crossed her arms. "Well, good luck with that! This is a magical barrier, so I doubt your infamous lock pick would be much of a help."

"Dang..." Bow muttered. "And I was looking forward to a challenge... Oh well, looks like I'll have to do this with force..."

"You can't break that barrier with force, Bow," Katt said. "I already tried it... it won't break."

Bow smiled. "Don't worry, I have an idea."

"What do you have in mind? You wanna hit it with your crossbow until it breaks?"

Bow shook his head. "No, I'm going to do... this!"

He held up his arms, seemed to concentrate and trusted them forward with a firm gesture.

A small flame appeared in his hands and flew directly at the magical cage Katt was standing in. When it hit the barrier, it fizzled and disappeared.

Katt stared at him in disbelief. "That was a Spark spell. But how...?"

Bow smirked. "I know some magic, remember? And I always wanted to try some more offensive spells, so I asked Sten to teach me. Not bad, huh?"

She shook her head with a grin. "Oh, you never cease to surprise me, you silly dog..."

He grinned back. "Well, I'll do my best, kittycat!"

And without any warning, he drew her closer and gave her a kiss.

She was surprised at first and struggled against his grip a bit. "Bow... no... not here..." she protested weakly.

He grinned sheepishly when he released her. "Sorry 'bout that... but I'm just so glad nothing happened to you. And, you know... it has been a long time since I have seen you."

She smiled. "Yeah, you're right with that. Aw heck, whatever! Do it again, I missed you too. And if some Jokers barge in, I'll just knock 'em out."

And she gave him a big hug.

She sighed as she clung to her boyfriend. Back when she was Ranma, she would have never thought it possible to fall in love with a boy, but here she was, acting like a lovesick little schoolgirl...

"Ranma?"

Her eyes opened wide when she heard that voice. She gulped when she saw Akane entering the room, followed by her other friends.

Quickly, she let go of a surprised Bow. "A-akane... I... I can explain that..."

"No need..." Akane whispered. She sniffed. "Seems you were right after all... you are not the same person I knew anymore..."

And she turned around and stormed out of the room.

"Akane!" Katt shouted. "Damn, Akane, come back!"

"I'll talk to her," Ryoga said with a sigh. "You guys hurry and get out of here." He turned to leave, but then took another look at his former rival. He chuckled. "Man, you really have changed, have you?"

When he was gone, Bow spoke up: "Um... did I do anything wrong?"

"Not you, Bow..." Katt murmured. "But I have the feeling I don't know who I am anymore..."

* * *

Without any further interruptions, the group managed to get out of the thieves' den safely. Another group of hoodlums tried to stand in their way, but Katt's stick made short work of them.

When they came out of the cave entrance and stepped back into the woods that surrounded the mountain, Katt looked around carefully.

"Doesn't look like Akane or Ryoga are around..."

"I don't think they're still in there," Ukyo said. "But Ranma... sorry, I mean, Katt... damn, this is hard getting used to..." She sighed. "Don't you think it's about time you told us what's going on here? Why did you kiss that dog?"

"Hey!" Bow protested in an annoyed voice.

"Please do not insult him, Ucchan," Katt sighed. "He is... well, how do I put this...?"

"I think we shouldn't stay here for too long," Spar spoke up. "The Jokers aren't that much of a threat, but we wouldn't want them to get after us again, do we?"

Katt nodded. "Yeah, you're right. C'mon, I'll tell you while we go back to Windia..."

"And what about your other two friends?" Patty asked.

"They can take care of themselves, I'm sure," Ukyo said.

While they were walking through the forest, Katt scratched the back of her head uncomfortably. "Well... you already know how I arrived in this world. Bleu helped me to find a job, and only a few months afterwards, Ryu appeared at the Coliseum and saved me from the ploy of the manager, Augus. I agreed to come along on his search for a thief, so his best buddy wouldn't be framed for something he didn't do."

Bow and Patty looked at each other and chuckled nervously.

"These were the events that turned me into one of the 'Dragon Heroes', as the people now call us. We travelled the world and revealed a dark conspiracy, and that the church of 'St. Eva' was actually worshipping a powerful demon called Deathevan. After Ryu's mother sacrificed herself - sorry 'bout that, Patty..."

Patty nodded sadly. "Yeah, yeah, it's alright! My Mom had to do what she thought was the right thing to do. Just go on..."

"Well, we entered the underworld where the Dragon Clan has been sealed and the demons were living. To make a long story short, we managed to track down Deathevan and defeated him. In the end, Ryu sacrificed his humanity and turned into a Kaiser Dragon to seal off the entrance to the underworld... He has been asleep ever since..."

"Okay, I think I get it," Ukyo nodded. "But what does that have to do with you kissing that guy?"

"It happened just before we decided to sneak into the Grand Church of Eva," Katt explained. "We met with a band of rebels that were planning to infiltrate the Grand Church themselves. We came to an agreement and decided to help each other out. The only problem was... their leader fell in love with me."

Shampoo sighed. She could already see where this was going...

"His name was Tiga and he was a Woren like me. I could see that his infatuation with me wasn't really true love, but he couldn't accept my 'no' as an answer... he even went as far as challenging Ryu to a duel." She giggled. "Back then, I was mentally pretty much a guy, and this whole affair reminded me too much about my own troubles back in Nerima... But, as it turned out, Tiga didn't really love me. His true love was Claris, a resistance woman that was acting as a spy within the city of Evraim, where the Grand Church was situated. He realized it after we snuck into the church... and the High Priest of St. Eva, Habaruku, was going to sacrifice her to their 'god'... Tiga apologized to me, threw off his disguise, and in the end, Habaruku killed them both."

She grimaced as the painful memories came back. "Somehow, when I witnessed that true sign of love... I couldn't bear it anymore. I wanted to save the two, but someone held me back. I turned around... and I saw none other than Bow."

The ranger nodded at that. "Yes," he continued. "I never knew that she had been a boy before coming to this world, and I believe I have been falling in love with her long before we met Tiga and the other members of the resistance for the first time. When Tiga challenged Ryu to that duel, I almost stepped in, as I felt that it should be me he had to fight for her. And when Katt stepped towards Habaruku in the church... I couldn't let her go. I was afraid she would end up just like Tiga and Claris, so I stopped her."

Katt looked at her canine boyfriend. "I wanted to pound him so badly that day, but I stopped when he made it clear that we couldn't just charge at Habaruku like that. The others agreed, we needed a plan."

"You want to tell me that just because he held you back in that moment, you fell in love with him?" Ukyo asked in disbelief.

"No, of course not!" Katt protested. "After we left the church, I explained everything to him... I saw him as a good friend, nothing else. And I was still uncomfortable with the idea of having a boyfriend. I was getting used to the idea that I had to stay a girl forever, but... the idea was still to icky for me."

"I realized I shouldn't push her into something she didn't want," Bow said. ""And I let her be, as painful as it might have been for me."

"But that wasn't the end of it, right?" Ukyo asked.

Katt shook her head with a smile. "No, of course not. Over the days, even after we defeated Deathevan himself, I realized more and more that I would never be able to get back to who I was... at least that was what I told myself. And somehow... as soon as I accepted that, it was as if my soul and heart were changing alongside my body." She chuckled. "I know, it sounds corny, but... from that day on, I saw myself as a complete female, and for some reason, I managed to convince myself that I could also feel attracted to boys... especially if they are as sweet as Bow. So I returned to him and decided to give it a try."

"I was so happy that day that I kissed her right where we stood," Bow said with a wide grin. "Right in front of our friends. And over time, we grew closer and closer."

"Right!" Katt nodded. "And now I couldn't even imagine a life without him, even if he's away on ranger duty for a long time... But this is just one of my many changes who turned me into what I am today."

"I see..." Ukyo said sadly. "You really aren't Ranma anymore..."

"Not the Ranma you knew," Katt said with a sad smile. "But you'll see that there are still quite a few things that haven't changed about me. I might not use the original 'Anything Goes' style anymore, but I managed to carry over some of my Pops' teachings to my new fighting style, so it is still 'Anything Goes'. Also quite a few of the Old Ghouls teachings are there... the speed of the Amaguriken can help me, even if I fight with a weapon instead of my fists."

Suddenly, Ukyo had to chuckle. "And I believe you still eat as fast as I know you to, huh?"

"Like a horse, I tell ya!" Bow laughed as he ruffled his girlfriend's hair.

Katt grinned and gave him a playful whack on the head. She turned to Ukyo and Shampoo. "You know, while I'm not who I used to be... I'm still 'me', see? And... while I know that both of you wanted so much more than this... could we still be friends?"

Ukyo took a deep breath. For such a long time, she had longed to see her 'Ranchan' again, and now, her wish was fulfilled... only that now, her dream of growing old with him would never be fulfilled.

"Sure, Ran... Katt-chan! I think I can live with that." She gave her childhood friend an uncertain smile.

Katt smiled back and then turned to a certain, lavender-haired Amazon. "And you, Shampoo?"

'I wonder why she didn't say anything until now,' she thought.

Shampoo's hands trembled. She already knew that her affection with Ranma was never based on love... ever since that day he vanished and Kasumi fell into her coma, she realized the bitter truth. And ever since that day, she had only pleaded for forgiveness... and that Ranma was safe.

Now she threw herself at the surprised Woren's neck and started to sob bitterly.

"Shampoo?" Kat asked in surprise and carefully stroked the distraught Amazon's back.

"C-c-can you...?" Shampoo began to stutter. "C-can you... f-forgive... Shampoo?"

Ukyo gasped. "Shampoo" You spoke!"

Katt threw her a strange look. "Yeah, why wouldn't she?"

The chef sighed. "Katt, she hasn't spoken ever since that day you vanished."

Katt stared down at the Amazon girl. "Shampoo... is that true?"

"P-p-please... forgive me..." she said as she looked up the the feline's furry face with teary eyes.

Now that she realized that Ranma was still in that female, furry body, even if she underwent quite a few changes, she finally was able to express her feeling once again.

Katt smiled and stroked her head. "Of course I do, Shampoo. Kasumi is fine, I am fine... no harm done, huh?"

"Y-yeah..." Shampoo nodded, although she still was sniffling.

Katt lifted her face so they were able to look into each other's eyes. "So, what d'ya say... friends?"

Shampoo hugged her. Not as fiercely and affectionally as her infamous Amazon Glomps, but instead a gentle hug reserved for close friends.

"Friends..." she whispered and nodded. She then let go of Katt and looked at her face. "Sh-shampoo so glad R-ranma... no... K-katt is all right."

* * *

At the same time, Akane was storming through the forest, into an entirely different direction from where her friends were going. When a tree was standing in her way, she just smashed through it's thick, wooden trunk and kept on running.

Ryoga tried his best not to lose her. "Akane!" he shouted. "Akane, please stop! You'll get lost! We don't know what's in these woods!"

"Why should I care?" Akane yelled and came to a stop all of a sudden. "Why should I care what happens to me, now that Ranma is gone?"

"Akane, don't say that," Ryoga said firmly as he stepped up to her. "You are still my friend, and I don't want to see you hurt." He wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, but he still refrained from doing so. "Don't... don't you want to come back to the others?"

"But... but Ranma..." She sobbed. "I will never see him again... I thought I could have him back... but now that I see the person I was after isn't him anymore..."

"Akane, it's all right! You don't need Ranma..."

That was the wrong thing to say.

Not even thinking of pulling out her mallet, Akane struck out in blind rage. her fist struck Ryoga right in the chin and threw him back with the force of a dozens of Shi Shi Hokodans. Ryoga flew backwards, hit one of the trees with a force that made the tree break in half, and hit the ground hardly. He barely had time to roll away as one half of the tree came crashing down on him.

"Akane, I... I'm sorry..."

"GO AWAY!" she screamed while running away. "I don't want to see any of you EVER AGAIN!!"

Ryoga got to his feet and raised a hand while he watched her run through the dark forest. "Akane..."


	6. The Wild Cat Restaurant

Akane lost count of time while she was running through the forest, never stopping once, even bowling over a few woodland creatures whose intention had been to go hunting for some tasty human meat... now they wondered if they should become vegetarians instead.

When Akane came to a stop, she found herself at the edge of the woods. She panted hardly and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She looked behind her and noticed that Ryoga didn't manage to follow her. Maybe he got lost as usual...

She didn't care. She didn't care about anything... not if Ranma turned into a person she couldn't love. She might have accepted his permanent sex change, and maybe even his transformation into a striped cat-girl... but when she witnessed the embrace between Katt and Bow, she knew that her chance of ever winning his... her heart were over.

Ranma was gone, and only Katt remained.

She looked around and saw that she was standing in front of another cave, this one didn't look as threatening as the entrance to the thieves' hideout though. Shining candelabras were illuminating the entrance area, and a big sign above her informed her that this was the 'Wild Cat Restaurant and Bar, Windia Branch'.

A bar was just what she needed right now. Akane normally wasn't a big drinker, but perhaps after a few glasses of sake - or whatever alcoholic beverages they were offering here - would help her to forget her sorrow.

She was just going to enter when she heard some rustling next to her. She turned around and saw a curvaceous girl stepping out of the thicket. She was dressed in some skimpy clothes and wore some sort of pointed hat. She also had long, pink hair.

The strange girl stopped when she saw Akane. "Ah, you're here for a drink as well?"

Akane nodded. She didn't feel able to say anything.

"Me too," the girl sighed. "I was hoping to find some comfort in the bar that was near my tower, but as it turned out, they closed their branch over there and moved here... stupid cats, taking away my only joy..." She sniffled. She then looked at Akane. "But, regarding the way you look, you seem to be in a pretty bad situation yourself, girl. You wanna talk about it?"

Akane wanted to tell the girl to piss off, but then she recalled the image of her female, feline fiancee, as she hugged that dog-man.

"R-ranma..." she stuttered. "N-never be able... to see him again..." She leaned against the comforting shoulders of the pink-haired girl and sobbed heavily.

"Ssshhh, shhh..." the girl whispered in a reassuring voice. "Now, now, everything will be much better after a few drinks... Come on in, it's on me! And maybe we'll feel better if we tell each other our problems. My name's Nimufu, by the way... Nimufu Mania, the witch. And what's your name, darling?"

Akane sniffed. "Akane... Akane Tendo..."

"Nice to meet you, Akane! Now let's get in and find a table, shall we?"

The main entrance was guarded by a big, muscular man that was wearing nothing but a pair of spandex briefs and a bow tie.

"Welcome to the Wild Cat Restaurant!" he said with a wide grin. "Oh, Miss Nimufu, how nice to see you again. Who is your friend?"

"Hello, Charles!" Nimufu replied. "She is with me, so could you please spare her the 'entree ritual'?"

"But of course!" the bouncer said with a short bow. "Every friend of Miss Nimufu is welcome here. Please, choose a table, we don't have many guests this evening..."

"Thank you!" Nimufu nodded and pulled Akane inside.

Akane looked around. The interior looked relaxing enough, with only a few patrons sitting around. Behind the counter, a big, cat-like man was standing and cleaning some glasses.

"So, you wanna sit at a table or would you prefer the counter?"

Akane didn't really feel hungry, but she knew that she needed a big amount of drinks before she could feel better.

"The counter, I'd say..." she finally said.

Nimufu nodded. "Yeah, that's what I figured... Hey Wildcat, bring us a bottle of your best, okay?"

* * *

Not too long after that, the two women were hanging over the counter, their minds in a blur and their tongues heavy.

"...annnn' then that shtoopid frog relly ashked me ta marry him... Whaddya shay to that?"

"HIC! Shtoopid boysh... they're all the shame..." Akane muttered while taking another swig of her bottle. "When they don't get themshelvesh curshed or getting all snuggly with the bimbo Ama... Amazzz... Amazzonns... they alwaysh inshult you, that'sh what they do, I tell ya!"

She looked into the bottle. "Damn, empty again? Hey, barkeep... another round!"

"Nobody loves us!" Nimufu was crying all over the counter. "The only guys that might love girls like us are slimy, disgusting frogs..."

"And dirty pigs," Akane nodded. "I tell ya, if I ever see one of 'em again, I'll... I'llllll... well, they're gonna see what I'll do with 'em... HIC!"

"Ummm... shweetie, you don't look too good..." Nimufu muttered. "Yer turnin' kinda green..."

"Urp... I think so too... where... where is the bathroom?"

"Um... that door, miss!" the bartender said with a sweatdrop.

"Thanksh..." Akane muttered and staggered around the counter and through the door Wildcat had pointed out.

Shortly after, loud barfing and splashing noises could be heard.

"Shtoopid gal..." Nimufu babbled. "If ya can't hold your liquor, you shouldn't have drunk that much..." And she took another swig of her own bottle.

Wildcat sighed. He only allowed Miss Nimufu to drink that much because she was his best customer... but if she continued to bilk every evening, he would have to make her take the 'entree ritual' again, the ritual that every new customer had to take...

"It's the rule of my restaurant..." Wildcat muttered to himself. "Only the strong survive. We serve the strong ones... but we cook the weak ones!"

And he continued to polish his glasses.

* * *

"So, what d'you say, Katt?" Ukyo smiled and patted her friend's furry backside. "You ready to come back to Nerima once more?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see Mom and Pops again, and Kasumi... and I never knew I would say this, but I'd even be overjoyed to see Nabiki again."

"Well, to go back, we have to use that mirror Great-Grandmother was talking about," Shampoo said. Her voice was still shaky, but everyone could feel how happy she was to be able to talk to Ranma once again... even if she was Katt now.

"That means we have to pay Bleu a visit..." Katt grumbled.

"Yeah, I'd want to have a few words with our lil' snake lady as well," Patty nodded. "She has quite a few things to explain to us."

"Just be careful not to say the wrong stuff," Nina pleaded while turning to face the visitors from Nerima. "She is the most skilled sorceress I have ever seen in my life, and you don't want to anger her."

"I'd say it will take quite some time until Bleu is angered," Spar pointed out. "I think we'll be able to survive. She always has been on our side, right?"

"All right then..." Bow muttered. He was putting his arm protectively around Katt. "But she better give me a good reason why she did this to Katt, or else..."

"I believe I can talk for myself, Bow!" his girlfriend replied with a frown. "Now sit down boy, and relax!"

The dog-man chuckled. "Yes, ma'am..."

"Where does that sorceress live?" Ukyo asked. "Is it a long way from here?"

"A very long way!" Nina nodded. "She's living on the Eastern Continent, in the desert."

"Strange," Patty spoke up. "I've been visiting Thieves Tomb all those times, and I never saw any sort of domicile in which Bleu might have been living."

"Bleu is very secretive about her private life," Spar chuckled. "She lives underneath the sands, in a cave that is hidden among the dunes of the desert. But still, I believe we can find the way. And if we get lost, I can still ask the desert cacti for assistance."

"Take a member of the grass tribe on your journeys, and you'll never get lost," Katt chuckled. "Okay, how should we go there? By air or by sea?"

"We could ask Mina for help, but I think she's still pretty exhausted from the last flight she gave us last weekend..." Nina pointed out.

"Who is Mina?" Shampoo asked curiously.

Katt grinned. "She is Nina's little sister... and also the biggest bird I've ever seen."

"I say we take the Whale Bell and go by sea," Nina suggested. "We will need a bit more time to reach the Eastern Continent that way, but at least we'll be able to sleep on Grandpa's back at nightfall.

Ukyo shook her head. "I won't even bother to ask..."

"Grandpa is the name of the biggest and wisest whale in the world," Bow explained. "He is big enough to carry us across the ocean. He once gave the Whale Bell as a present to Ryu. Whenever we needed to cross the sea, we went at a beach, Ryu rang the bell, and after several minutes, Grandpa would arrive."

"After our adventure was over, I took the bell along with me and put it into the treasure chamber of Windia, one of the safest places in our kingdom," Nina said. "I will go get it right away, wait for me here, please..." And she left the room.

"Wait a minute, what about Akane?" Katt suddenly said. "We can't leave her behind, can we?"

"Well, it would take months to search the entire woods surrounding Windia," Bow pointed out. "Even for a skilled ranger like me."

"Don't worry, I think she'll be fine," Ukyo said. "Ryoga was going after her, remember?"

"Oh, that's supposed to make me feel better?" Katt asked. "You know Ryoga will be lost within a matter of seconds. I'd not be surprised if he has reached Capitan by now..."

Spar stood up. "I shall stay here and search for her, then," he promised. "By that time, I believe Mina will be ready to bring us after you."

"Are you sure you can find her quicker than those hunters?" Ukyo asked sceptically.

"Don't worry, I'll find her," Spar said. "The forest itself will help me find her. I will spread the word for all plants that they shall aid her when she's in trouble, even if I wouldn't have reached her by then. I shall lead her back to her own world, trust me!"

Just then, the door to the room opened and Nina came back in, holding a shiny item in her hands.

"Here it is! We're ready to go!"

* * *

Bow decided to help Spar with his search, as he knew how to handle the animals of the wild, even better than the grass man himself.

On the shore that was closest to Windia, Katt said goodbye to her friends and her fiance.

"I'll see you again soon," Katt promised as she gave her boyfriend a hug. "And please... make sure to bring Akane back safely."

"Don't worry, you can count on me," he promised and gave her a quick kiss.

Meanwhile, Nina had approached the edge of the water and held the bell high above her head. As she rang it, it's clear tone echoed across the waves.

Suddenly, two swift forms were leaping out of the water. A blue and a pink shape were approaching them quickly.

"Squeak! It's them again!" a high voice coming from the pink dolphin spoke up.

"Squeak! Maybe they want to talk to Grandpa!" the blue dolphin spoke back.

Nina giggled. "Hello, Tree and Ton! Good to see you again!"

Excitedly, the dolphins jumped up high.

"Eeek! They're saying something! They're saying something!"

"They act like this every time we see them," Patty frowned. "Don't they ever grow up?"

And then, it seemed as if the ocean itself was rising up into the air. But when the sea water came seeping down the colossus' thick, leathery hide, they could see that it was the head of an enormous whale that was coming out of the ocean.

"Hello again, my friends!" the gentle voice of Grandpa the Whale greeted them. "Is there a special occasion or did you just want to see me again?"

"Well, of course we're always glad to see you, but you are right, we called you for a reason. See, Katt and her two friends..." Nina gestured at Ukyo and Shampoo. "...need to get to the Eastern Continent as fast as possible."

"Oh! Do you have business to attend to in the desert?" the whale asked.

"We have to talk to Bleu," the princess of Windia explained. "And it is not just a formal call, it is quite urgent."

"Well, I won't ask for any more background, I was just concerned for your well-being... the desert can be a treacherous territory. But sure, I'll take you there. I have nothing better to do on this beautiful day... so please, get on board!"

And he came as close to the shore as he could, lowering his massive head into the shallow waters.

"Squeek squeek!" Tree chirped as he swam around in agitation.

"It's a whale cruise, it's a whale cruise!" Ton shouted while Katt, Shampoo, Ukyo, Nina and Patty were climbing on Grandpa's broad back. Up there, they looked back at the shore and waved to Bow and Spar, who stayed behind.

With a firm movement, the colossal behemoth pushed himself away from the mainland and then slowly turned around, to begin the long journey, while a pair of excited dolphins was circling him on his way to the Eastern Continent.

* * *

Bleu was sitting at her desk, writing a few scrolls, when one of her ghost servants came floating through the sand wall.

"Mistress, there are a few travellers approaching your domicile. From their looks I'd say a few of them are your allies from when you battled Deathevan."

"I see," Bleu sighed as she put away her quill. "And remember that I only helped defeating Deathevan. I wasn't smart enough to save myself from being imprisoned in a prison crystal... and being shattered! It was Ryu who saved the world... As there always has been a Ryu..."

"Very well, mistress... shall I let them pass?"

"Is Katt with them?"

"Mistress?"

"The female Woren who fights with a stick."

"Ah, yes, she is!"

Bleu sighed, yet again. "Seems like now is the time," she murmured to herself. "Okay, let them in! I doubt they will leave until they have been talked to me."

The ghost hesitated. "Mistress, if they don't show you the proper respect..."

"SHUT UP!" the Naga sorceress yelled. "Listen, no matter what they say to me, whatever they call me, I will have earned it! No matter what they'll say, it won't be as bad as what I did! Now go and let them in!"

The servant, shocked at Bleu's outburst, quickly left the room. Never once in his death has he seen his mistress this angry.

Shortly after, the traveling group of Katt, Patty, Nina, Ukyo and Shampoo entered her study. She welcomed them with a weak smile.

"Oh, hey there! I already figured it would be just a matter of time before you came..."

"Don't give me that!" Katt angrily said, her fur bristling. "Why did you tell me there was no way out of here? Why couldn't I go back to my friends and family?"

Bleu wanted to tell her that those so-called friends didn't deserve a friend like her. She wanted to tell her that her family's only interest was in engaging her against her will. She wanted to say that no one of her previous fiancees had really loved her.

But she knew that what she did was wrong. She had no right to change Ranma's life like that. It had taken an enormous amount of suffering until Ranma got used to be here, to being 'Katt'. True, she was happy with her new friends, but...

She only changed because she thought she had no other choice. After those two years, Bleu knew that what she did wasn't the right solution.

"It's amazing what a human's heart can do under certain unfortunate circumstances..." she said quietly.

"You are not human!" Katt said with a growl.

Bleu shrugged. "Different cover, same content. I might be more powerful than any sorceress that has ever been on this world, but I'm not without faults. And I'm the first to admit that what I did to you was wrong." She then hesitated. "Do you want to be called Katt or Ranma?"

"Call me Katt!" the Woren said. "I'm a new person now... thanks to you!" Her pose softened. "Don't get me wrong, Bleu... I've been glad for your help. You helped me to get used to this strange, new world, and you found me a job... and without your intervention, I would have never met my friends... or Bow. But still..." She glared at the Naga as fiercely as she could. "You robbed me of my manhood. Fine, I'm over it! I'm happy as a girl now. You also robbed me of my humanity. So what? A Woren is not that different from a human, and it helped me to get over my fear of cats. See, I can even say their name now."

She then took another step into Bleu's direction and made her hands into fists. "But what you can never make up for is that you stole me away from those I loved! My parents aren't exactly the best examples of how a parent is supposed to be, especially my old man, but... they still love me! And I love them! Do you... do you really have an idea how it is to be torn apart from a family member?"

'Oh yes, believe me, I know...' Bleu thought to herself. 'Myria...'

"And my friends... okay, they were all a bit crazy, but so was I. And while I don't really know if I actually loved any of my fiancees..." She gave Ukyo and Shampoo pained looks. "Every single one of them was my friend. Well, except maybe Kodachi," she added with a wince. "But you had no right, absolutely NO right to take all of this away from me!"

"You are right," Bleu replied. "You are right, and you have every right to be upset at me. But I want you to know that I did this because I felt that someone had to get you out of there... away from these problems! I just saw you completely by accident that day, when I was watching other worlds with my magical mirror... and I swear, I have never seen a sentient being before whose life was so much in shambles like yours. I overreacted... I should have talked to you and your parents first... I was wrong!"

"Damn right you were, sugar!" Ukyo grumbled. "While I was sad at having lost Ranchan, that was probably nothing against what he... or rather, she went through. You're lucky we found a way to travel between the worlds."

"Yes, the mirror!" Bleu nodded. "Of course you can use it anytime you want to visit your home world, Katt... Or do you want to stay there?"

"I... I want to visit, but... I couldn't stand staying away from my new friends forever. I want to keep living here, but I also wanna be able to visit my friends and family back in Nerima."

"Yes, and I would say for that reason, it would be more convenient if we take the mirror with us, and keep it safe in Windia Castle," Nina spoke up.

"What?" Bleu asked in surprise. "But you can't... My studies... I NEED that mirror. C-can't you just... come here if you need it?"

"Traveling over the ocean and through the desert every time she wants to see her parents?" Patty asked grimly. "I think not."

"Can't Bleu just live in Windia? Castle is big enough, no?" Shampoo wondered.

"I wondered that as well," Katt said. "And I think it's a pretty good solution. The mirror would be safe, I can use it regularly to visit Nerima, and you wouldn't be alone all the time."

"But... But I LIKE being by myself..." Bleu whined. "What about my PEACE AND QUIET?"

Nina groaned. "Listen, if you want to, I can get you a chambermaid who can tell you if you have visitors. And then you can decide if you want to meet them or not."

That wasn't too bad, Bleu thought. It wasn't that different from her current situation, only that in the castle, she would most likely get visitors much more often. Maybe she could make a schedule...

"Do I also get my own herald?" she asked hopefully.

"Bleu, you are a legendary warrior and the most powerful sorceress of our time, so you will be treated just as royalty. Of course you can have a herald."

"And what about a personal massager? And a private messenger? And maybe..."

"See what you've done?" Patty groaned. "Now she won't shut up until she has as much handmaidens as you have."

"You actually have MULTIPLE handmaidens?" the snake sorceress asked in awe. "Whoohoo, count me in! We're gonna have a party at the castle tonight! PAH-TAY! YEAH!"

"Um... if you're done, I would like to make use of your mirror right now," Katt said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, sure! Silly me, teehee... All right, here it is!" And she gestured at the mirror hanging at the wall. "Hop right in and say hi to your parents from me!"

"Finally, we'll be able to get home," Ukyo sighed. "I can't wait for a nice, relaxing bath. I can't believe anyone would willingly live in the desert..."

Katt took a step to the mirror, then stopped and turned around. "Nina... Patty... I... I wanna tell you that... Whatever happens, I see you as my best friends from this world! And I also see Spar, Rand, Sten and Jean as my pals as well." She didn't even mention Bow.

Nina smiled. "Now why are you saying that, Katt? You know we'll still be there when you come back."

"Y-yeah," Katt muttered. "It's just that, well... I'm kinda afraid that the mirror might work only one way... and when I'm stuck back in Nerima, I will probably never see you again..."

"Well, we can't have that happening, can we?" Patty smirked. "We'll just have to come along with you, won't we?"

"I always wanted to see the town you came from," Nina giggled. "So why not pay Nerima a visit? I'm sure it will be a nice change..."

"Nice, if you like it chaotic and crazy," Ukyo muttered to herself.

Katt looked at her friends and gave them a hug. "You guys... you are the greatest!"

"Heh, you're pretty decent yourself," Patty grinned. "You know you'll have to buy me that deluxe armor I saw last weekend for my birthday, right?"

Nina turned to Bleu. "I know you have your ways of travelling. Please make sure the mirror safely reaches Windia Castle so we'll know we can get back there anytime. And tell my parents I sent you, and they will prepare a suite for you!"

"With nine chambermaids!" Bleu grinned. "And a giant balcony and a canopy bed! And how about a swimming pool on the roof...?"

"Ahem... what I wanted to say is, please make sure Bleu and Bow get to know that your mirror is being brought to Windia Castle. There are still two visitors from the other world around we have to bring back."

"No problem! I can use the mirror to track them down! I'll send them after you as soon as I found them! You can count on me!" Bleu was so happy that Katt didn't seem to be angry with her anymore that she was willing to do anything the winged princess asked of her.

"Well, I think we should be leaving, then," Katt said, looking at the mirror. Suddenly, she got a little nervous. This would be the first time after two years that she was able to return home.

"You think they're going to accept me?" she asked Shampoo, who had stepped next to her.

"Shampoo sure of it," the Amazon girl smiled. "Shampoo will help you. If stupid panda-man no can accept Katt, Shampoo will turn him into panda rug."

Katt giggled. "Thank you, Shampoo!"

"Felines have to stick together, right?" Shampoo winked.

Then it was time to go. Ukyo nervously stepped in front of the mirror, raised her hand and touched the smooth surface... and then, her body got sucked into the mirror.

Katt and the others stared. The Okonomiyaki chef was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, you wanna keep her waiting?" Bleu asked. "Just follow her!"

Patty nodded with a grin. "A step into a whole new world... now that's exciting!" And she followed Ukyo.

Next was Shampoo. "Please your great-grandmother my regards," Bleu said with a nervous smile.

Shampoo nodded and stepped through the mirror.

Nina comfortingly put her hands on her feline friend's shoulders. "Come on, you should go next! I'll be right behind you! Your parents have waited for two years, you shouldn't keep them waiting."

Katt nodded. "Y-yeah... I'm... I'm ready..." She gulped, approached the mirror... and then she touched it.

Everything around her seemed to turn into a chaotic swirl of bright lights and flashes while she had the feeling of being dragged through a tunnel. And then... she fell down on the floor.

"OW! Thanks, Katt, that was my wing!" a familiar, cranky voice moaned underneath her.

"Sorry, Patty," Katt said quickly and tried getting off the big pile of human bodies she had been landing on... but then, something heavy landed on top of her, and a pair of black-feathered wings were draped around her like a blanket.

"Oh, excuse me," said Nina's sweet voice. "I didn't mean to, Katt!"

She slid down and helped Katt get off as well. One after another, the others stood up as well.

"Well, that took you some time, youngsters," an elderly voice came from their left. "Now why don't you say something to your parents, Ranma?"

Katt gasped and turned around. She suddenly realized she was standing in the Tendo's living room... and everyone was there.

Cologne, sitting atop her gnarled pogo stick, looking extremely satisfied. Kasumi, sitting in an armchair, covered with blankets. Nabiki looking as shocked as she had never been before. Soun, looking as if he was ready to burst out in tears any minute.

And next to him...

"M-mom?" Katt whispered. "Pops?"

Nodoka and Genma stared in disbelief at the red-haired, furry girl their son had become, dressed in medieval-looking armor and carrying an oversized stick.

Which suddenly fell down to the floor with a loud clatter when Nodoka came running at her neo-daughter, embracing her so sudden, that Katt gasped in surprise.

"Ranma... it... it's really you..." Nodoka whispered into her ear. "Welcome back... welcome home!"

After a while, Katt hugged her mother back as tears appeared in her eyes. "Home..." she muttered to herself. "I'm home..."


	7. Ranma's a girl! Let's celebrate!

Nodoka didn't know whether she should laugh or cry. Still clinging to her daughter, she looked at her furry face, while tears of happiness were running down her face.

"I... I thought we'd never see you again. Oh, Ranma, you... you have no idea how I missed you!"

"I... I missed you too, Mom!" Katt replied. She didn't bother to tell her mother that she had changed her name... there would still be time for that later.

When Nodoka let go of her, Katt looked at the other residents of the house. Nabiki walked up to her with a smile. "Hey there, Saotome! You gave us quite the scare. You may not believe it, but I've actually been worried about you."

Katt grinned. "Still the same Nabiki. Well, I wouldn't have thought it possible either, but I missed you, too."

"Well, I guess I deserved that," Nabiki smirked. "Still, what's with the look? We already knew you were stuck as a girl, but now you come in fur?"

"It's a long story, Nabiki!" Katt assured her.

"And we'd all love to hear it later on... but for now, welcome home, Ranma!"

Ranma turned around to face the speaker. She winced when she saw Kasumi sitting there, with her blankets. "K-kasumi... are you all right?"

"I'm still a bit weak, but the doctor said I'll be fine within a few days if I don't overexert myself."

"Um... it wasn't Dr. Tofu who examined you, right?" Katt asked.

Nabiki giggled. "No way! The poor doctor would get a breakdown after spending that much time with Kasumi in the same room."

Katt looked down at the floor. "Kasumi, I... I am sorry for what happened... I would never..."

"It's all right!" Kasumi tried calming her down. "Neither of us could foresee what would happen. What is important now is that I am fine and you are home."

"What a joyful day!" Soun sobbed. "To see you again, under this roof! We already gave up hope!"

"It's good to be back, Mr. Tendo," Katt smirked.

Then her gaze fell on her father. "Pop..."

Genma smiled. "Ranma! My boy! Good to have you back! I mean, what would I do without you? Who else will throw me into the pond every morning?"

"I'll do it right away if you want, old panda!" Katt grinned. She then looked serious. "But Pops... everyone, please, do me a favor!"

"Everything you want, Ranma!" Nodoka said. She was serious. Now that her child was back, she was ready for anything.

"Well, that's just it... I have chosen a new name. You may have already heard from Cologne that I can't turn back into a boy."

"That's what I told them," Cologne nodded.

"Okay, but that's not all there is to it," Katt explained. "See, I was stuck in this body for two years, all the time believing there would be no way back into my previous life. I also took on these cat-like characteristics you can see. I've been turned into a Woren... a cat-like species that inhabits the world I appeared in."

She gestured at Nina and Patty. "These are friends of mine from that world. They helped me getting used to all those strange new things, as well as to this new body. With them, I could forget my pain, I found a new role within that new world... but I could never stop thinking of you."

"Saotome, if you want to say something, say it already!" Nabiki impatiently said.

"Right... well, what I wanted to say was... I accepted my role as a girl... and I took on a new name. I am now known as Katt... and even though I can now travel back and forth between both worlds, please accept my new name as who I am now. I am still the same person within... more or less... only that now, I am female. Can you..." She gulped. "Can you accept me like that?"

Everyone was speechless for a while.

Nodoka gave her a smile. "Ran... No, I mean... K... Ka..." She took a deep breath. "Katt! No matter what you do, what you look like and what decisions you make, I am still your mother and I will always love you as a child. I may have been persistent over the years, always wanting to see you as a 'man amongst men', but... not any more! Now that I know you are well and home again, that's all I ask for. If you are happy like this, I will learn to see you as the daughter I never had."

Soun cleared his throat. "W-well, this is surprising indeed, but... it is your choice after all."

Nabiki shrugged. "You already were a girl half of the time, so the difference won't be that big, eh?" Ranma frowned, but she couldn't help but grin when she saw Nabiki's saucy smirk.

"Everyone is who he or she chooses to be, Ranma," Kasumi said. "All humans make such a decision, and although not everyone can change like you did, in the end, the way you live is your decision."

Katt smiled. That was the part she had feared the most, that they would reject her. "Thank you, everyone!" she said happily. "NOw I really am glad to be back..."

She then looked at her father. "Pops, is something the matter?"

Genma just stared at her. "Boy, are you certain about this? I mean, nobody could have prevented what happened, and I won't press you into anything, but... This is your manhood we are talking about! Don't you want to get it back? We can still try and find the Spring of Drowned Man, you know..."

"No!" Katt said firmly. "Not anymore, Pops! I'm getting sick of having to adjust to everything. I am who I am, and if you have a problem with that, you... you can always go!"

She turned around and showed her father her backside.

Everyone stared blankly and Nodoka gasped. "Ran... K-katt, you can't be serious!"

Katt sighed and faced her mother. "I am serious, Mom! I would hate to see Pops disappointed. But after all I went through, you would understand why I made this decision." She glared at Genma. "All those years I had to convince myself I would never be able to get back, never be able to be a man again. While I would never get used to a life without you guys, I was able to cope with being a girl. I won't go through any of that again."

"I d-don't mean it like that," Genma said and waved his hands. "But boy..." He gulped as Katt glared at him. "Um, I mean, Ranma..."

"KATT!" his daughter shouted.

"Yes, well, um..." Genma stuttered. "What I mean is, wouldn't you even consider getting a male curse from Jusenkyo? I'm not asking you to change your mind, but... Couldn't you do it? Just so you could honor the agreement between our schools?"

Katt's mouth hang open as she stared at her father. He couldn't be serious! Not after all that time... could he?

"Genma..." Soun said sternly. "My dear, old friend... while I must admit, to my deepest shame, that I pressed Ranma and Akane into this relationship, I came to realize that it is their own decision. Of course we made an agreement... but now everything has changed. Isn't it enough that your child is back, safe and sound? Do we have to pester her again with our demands?"

Katt looked at him in surprise. "Mr. Tendo?"

Soun smiled at her. "Kasumi has been in coma for a very long time. During that time I came to realize what a fool I have been. I told myself that I would never press anyone into doing anything he or she wouldn't want to do... if only my sweet little daughter would get well again."

"Oh, father..." Kasumi was deeply moved.

"But... but what about the schools?" Genma blurted out. Nabiki shook her head, while Nodoka looked sternly at her husband. Would she have carried a katana right now, she would have clutched its handle tightly.

"If that is your only concern, you will be happy to know that I have been practicing every day," Katt said. "I may have used a stick in battle, but it was still 'Anything Goes'. And when I worked as a gladiator at the coliseum..." Nodoka gave her daughter a look of surprise. "I took a second job as a fighting instructor for young fighters. I passed on your teachings to a new generation of fighters."

She sighed when she saw the worried looks of the others. "I didn't use all of his teaching practices, don't worry!" She looked back at Genma. "Even if in a different world, you can be proud that the Saotome School of Anything Goes will live on."

Genma decided to give it a final try. "And what about Akane?"

Surprisingly, Katt looked down at the ground. "Akane... will get over it," she murmured.

"I suppose she didn't take it too well," Nabiki assumed. "Where is my little sister anyway?"

"You know, when she found out that..." Ukyo started, but was interrupted by Katt.

"Please, Ucchan!" the young Woren said. "Let me explain this to them, okay?" The chef nodded.

"I had no chance to tell Akane before I met with a... a friend of mine," Katt explained.

"Another visitor of our home world," Nina explained. "He is called Bow."

Katt nodded. "Yes, and he..." She took a deep breath. "He is my boyfriend!"

Everyone was stunned by those news. Nodoka let out a small gasp.

"What??" Genma asked in disbelief. "B-but boy, I mean... Katt, you can't..."

"I can't?" Katt glared at her father. "I can't? I am a girl now, FATHER! What's so wrong if a girl likes a boy? And before you take it all out on Bow, you shall know that he knew nothing about my previous life... not even that I had been a boy OR that I was engaged. And Akane... she came in just when Bow and I... when we kissed."

Genma's mouth stayed open for a while, then it closed. Then it opened up again. It would have been a hilarious sight, if not...

Nabiki frowned. "Saotome... you know my little sister was in love with you, right?"

Katt nodded sadly. "I know. And I never wanted to hurt her. But, see... I never figured I would ever see her again. And, besides... I have never been too sure myself if my feelings towards her were love or something else. But now, I would wish for nothing more than to be her friend."

Nabiki looked at Katt's face for a while, then she nodded. "And what about Ukyo and Shampoo?"

Shampoo smiled as she put a hand on Katt's furry shoulder. "Ukyo and I glad to have Ranma back - even if she is Katt. No want to see her sad."

Ukyo nodded. "It wasn't easy to let go, but I decided this has been going on for too long. If I can still be her friend, that's all I need."

Katt sighed. "I just wish Akane wouldn't have taken it so... so serious."

"What happened?" Nodoka asked softly.

"When she saw us kiss, she freaked and ran. She ran outside and into the forest. I haven't seen her ever since."

"Don't worry!" Patty spoke up when she saw the alarmed faces of the Tendos. "A good friend of ours promised to look after her. She will be fine, and we also made sure she can follow us through the mirror."

'So, Bleu isn't as stingy as she used to be,' Cologne thought to herself. 'Well, that's good news... for once!'

"Ryoga went after her as well," Ukyo pointed out. "And he promised to take her back."

"Ryoga went after her?" Nabiki asked. "Okay... I'll bet 2.000 yen that we won't see him again this year."

Katt was still looking at her father. "Pops, can't you... can't you accept that your child is now a female permanently? I'm still me. And it isn't more freaky than permanently having fur and a tail."

Genma was silent. Then he sighed. "I... I don't know. I have to think about it, bo... child!"

"That's all I'm asking," Katt said. "Please try to understand the situation I was in. One thing I can promise to you is that I can always come for a visit."

"What, you... you don't want to live here anymore?" Nodoka asked in surprise and concern.

"I will stay for at least a week, at least for now," Katt said. "But, you know, I have a house back in Coursair. I have friends back there just like I have here... and I have a very gentle and understanding boyfriend. I don't want to throw either of you away, so I'm going to live there, but I promise to come for a visit at least once a week."

Nodoka nodded in relief and smiled. "Your boyfriend sounds like he's a good catch, huh?"

Katt blushed upon hearing that from her mother, but she still nodded. "Y-yeah, he's a nice guy..."

"And now that we know you already kissed, we know we can expect other things to come," Patty said teasingly.

"Yeah," Nabiki grinned. "It's not a big step from Base 2 to Base 3."

Everyone laughed, except for Katt, who was blushing so much that it even showed through her fur.

Genma didn't laugh either. He took one last look at his son-turned-daughter, shook his head and went into the dojo.

"I need to clear my head..." he murmured. "I'll spar a bit... and if that doesn't help, I know where Tendo keeps his stash of sake..."

* * *

"I just have to show around Nerima," Katt finally told her two friends from the Dragon World. "I haven't been here for two years... there's so much I wanna see again! Dr. Tofu's practice, Furinkan High, the Nekohanten..."

"Well, just remember that we won't be there to serve you, girl!" Cologne reminded the enthusiastic Woren with a smirk. "At least not until you give us some time to go back there."

Shampoo smiled. "Katt no worry, Shampoo will go right away and prepare best meal, so it will be ready when she, Nina and Patty come by."

Nina smiled back at her. "Sounds good, I'll be looking forward to it."

After Shampoo had rushed out of the house, Cologne shook her head. "Just look at her... Just a few hours ago, she was a speechless picture of misery, and I couldn't convince her to do anything, may it be cooking or practicing her arts. I haven't seen her this happy ever since you disappeared two years ago, son-in..." She cleared her throat. "Sorry, I mean Katt. Please excuse me, but old habits are hard to break."

"So... you aren't interested in making me a member of your tribe anymore?" Katt asked.

Cologne shook her head. "No, not anymore! I came to realize that there are more important things than keeping the Amazon bloodline strong. Even someone as old as me can learn a few things from youngsters like you and Shampoo... even if it takes the hard way."

She hopped to the door and turn around to look back at Katt and her friends. "I, too, would appreciate if you dropped by. Now that Shampoo once again uses all her heart in her activities, I don't want it to be for nothing."

"Don't worry!" Katt grinned. "After spending so many years without any Japanese OR Chinese food, it's gonna be the best Ramen I ever ate."

The Amazon Matriarch chuckled. "Good to hear that. And, Katt..."

"Yeah?"

Cologne looked at the girl's face with a serious look. "Thank you for what you did to Shampoo!" And then she pogoed away.

Katt blinked in confusion. "But... whatever did I do?"

Nabiki grinned as she patted Katt's shoulder. "It may not be intended, and you may not have noticed it, but her behavior changed immensely ever since she learned that you would come back."

"In this case, I may just wait for another time until you come by at Ucchan's to have a taste of my Okonomiyaki," Ukyo said.

"Oh, I... Listen, it's not that I forgot how great your cooking is, it's just that..."

"I understand, Katt-chan!" Ukyo grinned. "Hey, it's okay! As long as you promise to drop by during the week, I'll be fine. I understand that it is very important for Shampoo that you have a taste of her cooking first." She shrugged and turned to leave. "Well, I better be going for now... Konatsu will be worried about me. Just promise to come over for a nice meal this week, okay?"

"Will do, Ucchan!" Katt nodded. "See ya later!"

Ukyo looked at his two winged friends. "Nina, Patty, it was nice meeting you two." And she left as well.

"Child, you're not going out in these clothes, are you?" Nodoka suddenly spoke up.

Katt looked down at her armor. "Um... you're right, that would be a bit awkward... I just wore this outfit for such a long time... I never imagined I would wear normal clothes again."

"Maybe you two should change into something else," Kasumi told Patty and Nina. "I can lend you some clothes, and if they don't fit, we can always see if Nabiki or Akane have something more suitable."

Patty looked down at her red, leathery thieves' outfit. "Hey, what's wrong with what I wear?" she asked.

"Nothing... at least not where we come from," Nina said. "But you may have noticed that the residents of this new world tend to dress in a slightly different manner than we are used to. We wouldn't want to stand out, right?"

"I think our wings would stand out even more than our clothes..." Patty muttered.

"Eh, not necessarily," Katt said, suddenly remembering Kiima and the other Phoenix tribe members. "The people of Nerima are used to weird stuff happening around here..."

"Still, wearing the same clothes as the locals will usually be seen as an act of politeness," Nina insisted. "And it will help us to get to learn more about the culture of this world."

"All right already..." Patty sighed. "But be sure to find me something that gives my wings free mobility."

"I guess you can always have one of my tube tops," Nabiki shrugged. "Come, I'll show you to my room..."

Katt raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to charge for it, are you?"

"Contrary to popular belief, not everything I do has a price, Saotome!" Nabiki grimaced. "Now if she would want to use my camera..."

Patty blinked, leaned over to Katt's ear and whispered: "What's a camera?"

Katt whispered back, and Patty nodded in understanding. "Well, having a few pictures of Nerima to look at back home WOULD be nice... how much?" she asked the perplexed Nabiki.

"Um..." the middle Tendo sister was taken aback, never expecting the dragon-winged girl to accept the offer. Fortunately, she did put in a new film just yesterday. "Well, if it's just for one day... how about 5.000 yen?"

Patty blinked, then reached for her pouch. "I don't have any of these 'Yen', but how about I give you five pieces of gold for it?"

Nabiki's eyes started to gleam greedily as she saw the shining gold coins in the young thief's hands, each of them as big as a potato chip.

Patty looked confused at her. "Well, is it enough?"

"Yeees..." Nabiki muttered, feeling a bit dazed. "Yeees, that will be fine..."

Katt frowned. "Aren't five pieces of gold are a bit steep just for loaning the camera? I'd say three pieces are more than enough, Nabiki!"

"Um, if you say so..." Patty shrugged, taking back two of the coins.

"Nooo..." Nabiki whined. "My pretties... give me back my pretties..."

Kasumi stood up. "Please come this way, Nina-chan! I might have a nice dress that would just look beautiful on you."

"That would be great," Nina smiled. "But... what about my wings?"

"I'm sure we can find a solution," Kasumi said.

"Kasumi, you shouldn't get up," her father said in a worried voice. "The doctor said you need to rest."

"Oh, I think I'll be fine, father!" Kasumi replied. "Besides, I have Nina to help me if I should feel too weak. Isn't that right, Nina-chan?"

The princess of Windia nodded. "Of course!"

"See, father? Nothing to worry about!" And she led Nina up the stairs, followed by Patty and a Nabiki who still muttered: "Ooooh, such precious, precious coins of gold... oh, my preciousssss..."

Nodoka put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Come, Katt! Let's see if a few of your old clothes will still fit you..."

* * *

When Katt opened her old drawer, she hesitated a bit. Then she took out a very familiar-looking pair of clothes.

Staring down at the red shirt and black pants, she wondered just how much of Ranma was still in her. Was she really willing to wear her old Chinese clothes?

Her mother looked at her in concern. "What's wrong, dear?"

Katt closed her hands to stop them from shaking. "Mom, I... I don't think I can wear my old stuff again... They remind me too much of who I was... and that I might never be able to get back to being him again." She sighed. "As I told you, I am still 'me', but different. While I'm pretty much a tomboy, I'm still a girl, and wearing these clothes would make me feel as if... as if nothing ever happened since I was gone. But that's not true... I have changed, and maybe I should accept the fact that I have become a girl by wearing things that... that a girl would wear."

"I think I see..." Nodoka said quietly, put back the Chinese clothes and closed the drawer.

"You know, back in the Dragon World, I was able to tell me that I'm a different person, as my appearance had changed enough, and I also had other people around me. That helped me with convincing myself to start wearing clothes and armor that was designed for girls... and after those two years, they too helped me to accept what I have become. But now... coming back here was difficult enough, and although I'm happy to see everyone again, I don't want to lose what I left behind in the other world... and that's why I want to be different, enough so that other people will realize that I'm not the manly Ranma they all know anymore..."

'Oh, my poor child,' Nodoka thought to herself. 'Those two years must have been much harder for you than I thought... I will try to make you as comfortable as I can!'

"Don't worry, dear, I'm sure we can find a few things from Nabiki or Akane that might fit you... Akane is very much a tomboy, and I've never seen Nabiki wearing dresses either."

Katt winced. "It might not be a good idea for me to take any of Akane's things... the last time we talked, we weren't exactly on good terms with each other."

"I see," Nodoka nodded. "Well, you can always ask Nabiki... but I don't think you can borrow clothes from her every time you and your friends come for a visit..." Her face brightened. "We might just have to go SHOPPING!"

Katt sighed. That was what she had feared. But seeing her mother this happy convinced her not to disappoint her.

* * *

Later that day, the three girls could be seen walking out of the Tendo home's front door, accompanied by the Saotome matriarch.

Katt and Patty were both wearing clothes from Nabiki. Patty was wearing a white tube top that allowed her wings to move freely, and a pair of tight, red pants. Katt was wearing a sleeveless, blue shirt, along with a pair of black shorts.

Kasumi had given Nina a nice, sky-blue sundress with a floral pattern on its backside. She had also put a violet ribbon in her hair that 'emphasized her wings'.

Katt grinned as she walked along the familiar streets, ignoring the looks the locals were giving the cat-girl and her two winged friends.

"Ready or not, Nerima, here we come!"

"Ranma?" a familiar voice suddenly shouted behind them. "Is that you?"

Katt nervously turned around... and sighed in relief when she saw the faces of Akane's two oldest friends, Sayuri and Yuka. With her luck, it could have also been Hiroshi and Daisuke (who were Ranma's old pals, but also the biggest perverts in Furinkan High), or even (shiver) Happosai or Kuno...

Katt grinned nervously. "H-hi there, Sayuri, Yuka..."

"Wow, we almost didn't recognize you under that costume," Yuka said in awe. "I didn't know you were into cosplay."

"How long has it been?" Sayuri asked. "Two years? Man, Akane must be relieved that you finally are back. Where have you been all that time?"

"Old friends of yours, Katt?" Nina asked with a smile.

"Um, you could say so," the Woren girl nodded. "Nina, Patty, these are Yuka and Sayuri. Girls, these are my new friends, Nina and Patty."

"Are you all members of a cosplay club?" Yuka asked, fascination in her voice.

Patty and Nina looked at each other in confusion. "What's she talking about?"

Katt sighed. "Yuka, those aren't costumes..."

"Huh?" the brown-haired girl blinked. "And what do you call these...?" She reached out to grab the Woren's ears.

"OW!" Katt yowled. "Hey, that hurts!"

Yuka gasped and took a step back. "You mean to tell me... they are for real?"

"Yes, they are..." Ranma grimaced and carefully massaged her hurt cat ear. "As is my tail and fur... and their wings, by the way."

"Lemme guess..." Sayuri groaned. "Accident with Jusenkyo water?"

"No, not really," Katt admitted. "You see... Patty and Nina are visitors from another world... and that's where I've been the past two years."

Normal girls wouldn't have believed what the cat-girl had told Yuka and Sayuri at the moment. But this was Nerima, and weird things were bound to happen, even if Ranma was not around.

"Wow!" Yuka gasped. "So you two are aliens or something?"

"I don't really know what an alien is..." Patty said and scratched her head. "I'm a member of the dragon tribe... and Nina is the princess of Windia."

"A real princess?" Yuka nervously looked at Katt. "Does that mean we have to bow down now?"

Nina laughed. "Please, treat me as you would any friend of yours. Any friend of Katt is my friend as well."

"Who's Katt?" the two Nerima girls stereoed.

"Well, that's me," the red-haired cat-girl grimaced. "It's, um... my new name. And before you ask, I'm permanently a girl now. And a Woren... I mean, a cat-girl."

Sayuri smiled. "Oh, that's great!"

Katt blinked. "It is?"

Sayuri nodded. "Sure! Now we can do all the stuff we used to do with Akane. You know, girl stuff!"

Katt grimaced. "I hope you aren't talking about putting make-up on me or bows on my tail..."

Sayuri giggled. "Only if you want to."

"Apropos, Akane..." Yuka suddenly murmured. "Did you already tell her?"

Katt sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I did..."

Yuka winced. "I guess she didn't take it too well, right?"

Katt shook her head.

"Ah, don't worry about her!" Yuka smiled. "Akane will get over it. I used to be in love with three boys at school, and all of them had another girl in the end."

"You weren't in love, you just had a few crushes on them," Sayuri said with a frown.

Her friend just shrugged. "It's the same to me..."

"Katt was just showing us around town," Patty said with a grin and put her hand on the small Woren's head. "And I must say, it's really exciting, so many new things to see..."

Katt grinned as well. "Patty, I barely showed you anything... we just walked around the block once, that's all."

"Oh, but there's so much you can see," Sayuri said. "There are a few places in Nerima a girl just has to go to every once in a while."

"That's right," Yuka nodded. "The mall, the ice cream parlor, the perfumery..."

"Oh, that sounds exciting," Nina gushed. "Maybe you can come along and show us everything?"

Sayuri and Yuka grinned. "It would be our pleasure!"

"Nooo..." Katt protested. "Not the perfumery..."

* * *

"Your mother really was nice to give us some money so we could go shopping," Nina smiled as she looked into her shopping bag. "I can't wait to show some of these cute dresses to mother and Mina..."

"Who knows, maybe it will start a new trend in Windia," Katt chuckled. She looked over to where Patty was sitting. "What are you doing?"

"Can't... talk... giant monkey... throwing... barrels... GAH! He hit me AGAIN!"

Katt sweatdropped as she realized the small device Patty was holding. "Yuka... you bought her a Gameboy?"

"Hey, as soon as she saw it, she wanted to try it out," Yuka protested. "Is it my fault she turns into a video game addict?"

"But how is she supposed to play those games if there is no electricity back in her world?"

"Oh, I almost forgot..." Katt murmured.

Patty grinned. "No worries! The salesman also sold me these nice things called 'batteries'. He said that with them, this game will work for quite some time, and if they run out, I can put new ones in. He even showed me how it's done. So, the only thing I have to do is to buy some batteries every time I visit Nerima."

"Say, how many trends are you planning to start back home?" Katt sweatdropped. She knew, as soon as that device would be brought to the Dragon World, everyone who saw it would want to have one. No one could escape the addiction caused by Nintendo...

"I have a great idea!" Sayuri suddenly said. "Yuka and I were planning to have a sleepover tonight... why don't you girls come as well?"

"Yes, we can celebrate Ranma's... I mean, Katt's new girlhood."

"Aren't you guys a bit too enthusiastic about the fact that I've turned into a girl forever?" Katt murmured.

They shook their heads. "Nope! Not one bit!"


	8. No hard feelings

Spar looked at the pile of empty beer and wine bottles. "So, she was here?" he asked Wildcat.

"Oh yes," the restaurant owner smiled. "She left with one of my best customers, Nimufu the witch. She even left me a generous tip for the chaos their little - ahem - drunken rampage through my restaurant caused."

Bow groaned. "Oh no! Not that witch!"

Neither he or Spar had ever met the curvaceous femme fatale, but they had heard enough from her through Ryu, Katt and their other friends.

"Hopefully she hasn't started a new statue collection..." Bow murmured.

Spar shrugged. "Well, we just have to go after them, right?"

"Are you nuts? Do you know where she's living? Her tower is just near SimaFort... we have to travel past Owl Woods, cross the Capitan Channel and walk around all of SimaLake before we can get there."

"What choice do we have? You know Nina and Katt took the Whale Bell."

The dog-man whined. "But I don't wanna walk such a long distance..."

His plant friend pondered something. "Well, I might have another idea..."

"You have?" Bow asked. "Well, out with it!"

Spar gave his friend a knowing smirk. "From what I heard, the younger princess of Windia always had a... little crush for you. And from what Ryu told me, you always were glad whenever she came to HomeTown."

Bow sweatdropped. "I know what you're getting at..." he mumbled. "Spar, please don't..."

"But what's so wrong about it?" Spar asked. "You like her, she likes you, we need to get to SimaLake, and the best way to do it is by asking Mina a favor..."

"But she's the Great Bird now!" Bow protested. "You think she's still interested in me? Besides, you know that Katt is my only love now!"

"I know, I know, but what I mean is, you two are best friends, so why not ask her if she can carry us there? She certainly will be happy for a change."

"All right, all right..." The hunter grumbled. "But only this once, you hear me?"

* * *

Akane looked around Nimufu's chambers. "Say, these pieces of furniture look expensive. Furnishing this tower must have cost you a fortune!"

"Ah, never mind that!" the young witch grinned sheepishly. "I inherited the whole tower from my mother when she died, including furniture, magical equipment and guardian monsters."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that," Akane said. "My mother is dead as well... I mean, what I want to say is: Thank you for letting me stay the night here, Nimufu! I don't know anyone in this world, and I don't think I want to go back home just now..."

"Hey, I understand!" Nimufu said. "And don't worry, it's not a big deal. I have a big amount of space and the only ones I have shared these walls with are my imbecile servants... you try commanding an entire troops of monsters whose only interest is in killing anyone who enters the tower."

"If you don't like them, why didn't you already get rid of them?" Akane asked in surprise.

Nimufu grimaced. "Well, they are kinda my mother's creations... she always had tried to remove their bloodthirsty habits. I just wanted to finish her life work, but I still wasn't able to turn the monsters into polite cohabitants."

Akane chuckled. "I can see how that gives you troubles with the boys..."

Nimufu nodded. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to invite a nice guy when the only place you have to offer him is this dark tower filled with monsters. And that always made me so angry..." She sighed. "For some time, I tried forcing young men to be my boyfriends, but that never worked... In my rage, I always turned them into stone statues."

Now Akane was a bit worried. "You won't do the same thing to me, will you?"

The witch shook her head. "No, I'm past that. Ever since that one day, I never forced anyone to enter my tower against his will. I also released everyone I had under my spell up to then." She looked down. "But the worst thing is that these little fits of rage turned away the very last friends I had..."

Akane felt pity for the pink-haired girl. She could relate to her experiences. Only that she never turned anyone into stone... she just gave them a mallet-bashing.

"And you... never had anyone who entered your tower willingly? Someone that liked you for what you are?"

"There... there was someone," Nimufu sniffed. "He was nice... and charming... and fairspoken... Damn, he's even a prince!"

Akane frowned. That almost sounded too good. There had to be a catch. "So... what was the problem?"

Nimufu stared at her. "The problem was... that he is a FROG! A green, slimy, disgusting FROG! And there's nothing that I hate more than frogs!" She retched. "They are just so... yucky!"

"You... had a frog as your visitor?" Akane murmured. 'A frog prince?' she thought to herself.

"He... he's the prince of the frog people in SimaFort, in the middle of the great lake nearby," Nimufu sniffed. "I suppose I can't really blame them... See, when I was a kid, I once entered the laboratory in which my Mom did her magical experiments. She didn't see me when I entered the room... I could see a bucket standing next to her... a bucket full of dead FROGS! And then... then she... she picked up one of those frog corpses and she..." Another retch. "She DISSECTED it!"

Akane blanched. She could imagine how that would traumatize a young child.

"I turned him down. But he just wouldn't quit. He always came for a visit and never left me alone. I don't really know why I never turned him into stone or why I told the guardian monsters to never harm him, but... whenever I looked into his eyes, I saw that they were full with... gentleness! And love!" She shuddered. "I could never harm a person that was so full of compassion for me. If only..." By now she was crying. "If only he weren't a... frog!"

"What happened?" Akane asked as she sat down next to the distraught witch.

"I... I asked him to stop visiting me, but he said that he couldn't do such a thing, 'for his heart was yearning to get to know me personally'. These words... they gave me such a yucky image in my head that I couldn't stand it anymore. And then I did something I'm regretting to this very day. I turned him into... into a frog!"

Akane blinked. "Huh?"

"I mean, into a real frog! He actually looks half human in his normal form, but I turned him into an actual, giant frog and forced him to live in the swamps. I don't know what I was thinking... but at that time, I believed that this was the perfect place for such disgusting creatures as frogs to live."

"Oh boy," Akane sighed. "But you did turn him back?"

"Well, in a matter of speaking..." the witch sniffed. "A group of adventurers came into my tower. My monsters were no challenge for me. They had met the frog in the woods and asked me to take the spell of him. In the end, I told them the only way to cure him. A beautiful girl had to... had to kiss him. I could have done it myself, but you might understand the reasons why I couldn't do it." Another sniff. "In the end, one of the adventurers gave him the kiss that freed him from my spell. From what I heard, it was a young Woren who did it, you know, one of those cat people. I think I saw her when they came into my chambers. She had red hair and carried a long stick.

Akane froze. She couldn't be speaking of Ranma, could she?

"It was that girl who yelled at me the most for transforming the prince," Nimufu sniffed. "She asked me if I cared about his feelings at all. And then she said something... Up to now, I never understood the reason why. She called me an 'uncute tomboy'." She snickered. "I mean, look at the way I dress. Is that something a tomboy would do? Maybe the strangeness of this situation was what pulled me out of my misery and made me tell them the secret... as well as turning all of my victims back into flesh."

Akane was silent. Could it really be? Was Ranma angry at Nimufu because... her actions had reminded her of... of herself? Of Akane Tendo? Was that the reason why she called her that?

'Maybe... maybe I was a little too violent...' Akane thought. 'Maybe I should have treated him a bit better... Maybe this is one of the reasons why all of this ended like this.'

But there was still a question unanswered. A question she would like to hear the answer of.

"And... what did the prince do after they turned him back?" she asked. "Does he..." She hesitated. "Does he hate you now?"

"NO!" Nimufu cried. "He might not be as persistent as before, but he still sends me letters and asks me to meet him. He never blamed me once for what I did too him. He is just so... sooo... generous!" She blushed. "I would never... never deserve such a gentle man like him... Besides, he's still, well... a frog!"

Akane didn't ask if that was really the reason why she didn't answer to his letters... that he was a frog.

But that meant that this frog prince still seemed to love her. But Nimufu... what about her? Did she love him? Or did she not?

She didn't dare ask her new-found friend that question, but... no matter if Ranma - Katt - loved her or not - would Akane be able to accept her just as a friend? Or would she end up as miserable as the young witch?

Nimufu sniffed. "Thanks for having listened to my story," she said. "It must have been pretty boring for you..."

"No!" Akane said quickly. "Not at all!"

Nimufu giggled. "You're so nice, Akane... I think we might be friends. What do you say?"

Akane smiled. She walked over to the young witch and extended her hand. "Hello, I'm Akane! Would you like to be my friend?"

Nimufu smiled. She accepted Akane's hand and said: "Yes... yes, I'd like that, Akane!"

All of a sudden, a shrill whistle echoed through the chambers. Startled, Akane jumped back. "What was that?"

"The warning signal," Nimufu frowned and walked over to a gleaming crystal ball. "It means that someone is about to enter my tower."

"You... you're not going to do anything to them, are you?" Akane asked.

Nimufu shook her head. "No, I ordered my monsters only to attack someone of I tell them to. But I still wanna see who these unexpected visitors are."

She looked around the room. "Mummy? Where are you?"

Akane blinked. "Didn't you tell me that your mother has already..."

"I'm not calling my Mom," Nimufu grinned. "I'm calling one of my servants: The Magic Mummy!" And she yelled: "DAMMIT, MUMMY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

A tiny imp suddenly dropped down in front of the loud witch. "Excuse me, mistress, but the mummy excuses herself... she is on her lunch break!"

Nimufu fumed. "What?? She can't do that! I need her now! Dammit, I WANT MY MUMMY!!"

"C-calm down, mistress!" the imp that was dressed in a tiny armor stuttered.

Nimufu sighed. "All right, Seenate! You and your pals are gonna welcome the visitors and ask them what they want. If their intentions are not hostile, you'll bring them into my chambers... and don't hurt them unless I tell you to!"

"Y-yes, mistress!" the Seenate squeaked and ran away to fetch his team mates.

* * *

The grass man and the canine hunter were being led into the big entrance hall of the tower by the Seenates, where the tower's mistress was already waiting for them. Akane was standing nearby.

Bow smiled. "There you are, Akane! Good thing we found you! You see, Katt and the others wanted us to tell you that they already returned back home, and that you could follow them via the mirror, and that it is now hanging in Castle Windia and..."

"Um, Bow?" Spar interrupted his friend. He gestured at the girl's face, which didn't look too happy.

Akane gritted her teeth as she looked at the dog-boy who stole away her Ranma, the one who made him a girl completely, the one who slobbered her face, the one who...

Nimufu looked at her upset friend and frowned. "It seems like she isn't too overjoyed to see you. Did you two meet in the past?"

Bow nodded. "Yes, we met shortly when we saved Katt from those bandits and she..." Suddenly, he gulped. "Oh no..."

He now clearly remembered that the only time Akane really saw him was when he was giving his girlfriend a kiss... the girl that had once been her fiance.

He chuckled nervously. "Um, about that, you're not too angry at me because of that, right? I mean, Katt has decided she wants to stay a girl, after all... You can't blame me for falling in love, right? So, no hard feelings, okay?"

Suddenly Akane's angry glare turned into a grin. "No hard feelings, eh? Well, okay... I still might forgive you for stealing my boyfriend away from me, but..."

She pulled out her mallet. "How dare you give him a KISS while I was watching? That was the most disgusting, disturbing, gross thing I've ever seen in my life..."

Bow winced. "Um, you can always give her another kiss, if you want. That is, if she agrees, I don't mind at all..."

"Why... why would I EVER want to kiss that disgusting, perverted catgirl? You are right, she isn't Ranma anymore. I would NEVER want to have anything to do with that bitch again! If she's happy with a mutt like you... FINE! I DON'T CARE!"

Nimufu now was pretty confused. "Now wait a minute here... who are we talking about? Katt? wasn't that the red-haired Woren girl I told you about? But if you said she was your fiancee..."

"Katt has been a boy once," Spar explained softly. "She thought she would be trapped in this world forever, so she accepted her role as a girl and... fell in love with Bow."

Nimufu sighed. "Oh, I see... it's one of those complicated 'love triangle' stories..."

"I DON'T LOVE... that is... I couldn't possibly love..." Akane sobbed. She couldn't stay mad at her new friend. "Nimufu, she's a GIRL for god's sake! How could I still possibly love her? And the way she kissed that... that..." She glanced over at Bow with furious eyes. Then she leaned at her new friend's shoulder again and wept.

Nimufu sighed. "Oh boy... when it rains, it pours, right? Well, was there anything else you guys wanted to tell me about?"

"Um, only that if she wants to go back home... she should ask at Castle Windia. And if she wants to come with us, we could always escort her through the woods..."

He then glanced over at Bow. "Although I don't think that would be a good idea anymore..."

"I'd say the same," Nimufu nodded. "Don't worry, if she should decide to leave, I will bring her to Windia. Now, would you two please leave now? You see how upset she is."

"Yes, of course," Bow mumbled. "And I'm really sorry..."

"I don't need your apologies!" Akane snapped. Bow winced and she sighed. "Never mind, just... leave! Just leave!"

Bow decided not to say anything else and simply left, after looking one last time at her.

Nimufu looked at the Seenates. "Escort them outside and make sure that nothing happens to them on their way out."

"Yes, mistress!" their leader saluted.

When the two guests had left, Akane buried her face even deeper in her friend's shoulder while Nimufu patted her head soothingly. "Poor girl... I bored you to death with my stories, and I never saw how you were suffering... and it was much more recent than what happened to me."

"M-maybe we... we can help each other overcome our worries..." Akane sniffed. "I don't know how long I will wait until I return back home, but... in the meantime, could I stay here?"

The young witch smiled. "Of course! That's what I already offered you! Stay as long as you like!"

Akane sighed. She was feeling a bit better. "Thanks, Nimufu! Say... about Ranma..."

"Who?"

"Katt, I mean..." She sighed yet again. "She was called Ranma back when she was a boy. Do you think I should just forget about him... her?"

Nimufu looked at Akane sternly and shook her head. "No, Akane! No, don't you ever forget about him! He was the man you were in love with, and that's something very precious, believe me! I don't know if you can possibly love who he has become, but at least try to understand him, okay? If he really was trapped in this world, living as a girl wasn't exactly his decision alone. I can imagine that he had a very hard time accepting that. And if she and the dog are really in love with each other, imagine what would happen if you were in their place. Would you want to be pulled apart from your beloved one? I know it's pretty much the same that they are doing to you, but with one important difference."

"What... difference?" Akane asked.

"Katt chose to be with Bow, simple as that. And even if it breaks your heart, it is her decision who she wants to be with. And before you go and start calling her a traitor and a bastard, think about what happened to him... her. I can't really say if it is possible to be in love with two persons at once or if he really was in love with you, but if she chooses Bow, you can't do anything about it."

"I... I guess that's true," Akane sniffled.

"And one last thing: Disregarding the fact that seeing her hurts... wouldn't it be much better to have her as a friend than as someone you hate from the bottom of your soul?"

"I... I don't know. It sounds logical, but it is a bit much to take in at once, Nimufu. I guess I should just sleep over it for now..."

Nimufu nodded. "That's a good idea! Come, I've prepared a bed for you. Tonight, you will sleep and forget all your worries, and tomorrow, you can still decide what you're going to do."

Akane had to agree that this was pretty much the only thing she could do.

And maybe - just maybe - Nimufu was right. As long as thinking of Ranma as 'just a friend' stung her heart, it was much better than thinking of her as a 'perverted two-timer'.


	9. An alliance of demons

Sayuri opened the door to her family's house with a smile. "Come on in, girls! We've been waiting for you."

Katt, Nina and Patty entered. Sayuri's mother, who had just been watching a late movie with her husband, came to greet them.

She was a bit surprised at Nina and Patty's wings, as well as Katt's fur and tail, but she was a nice hostess and just dissembled it.

"So, you must be the nice two girls my Sayuri met this afternoon, right? It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all ours," Nina said as she gave the middle-aged woman a bow.

Then Sayuri's mother took a look at Katt. "My, is that you, Ranma? Sayuri already told me about your change, but seeing you like this certainly is a surprise."

"Mom..." her daughter hissed. "Her name's Katt now!"

"Oh, of course, you already told me... how silly of me! Well then, Katt, as you are now a girl as much as the others, I hope you behave yourself."

Katt gave her a bow as well. "I will do so, ma'am."

Yuka was already present when Sayuri lead her other three guests into her room. "Hey, everyone!" the brown-haired girl waved. "I know Nina and Patty wouldn't have had any sleeping bags, so I brought a few from back home."

Nina frowned as she looked at the sleeping bag Yuka handed her. "THank you, but... do my wings really fit in there?"

"Oops, I completely forgot about those," Yuka blushed.

"Well, I can always do this," Patty grinned and raised her arms, wrapping her dragon-like wings completely around her body. Now she looked as if she was wearing a leathery, dark blue cloak.

"Well, you can always sleep on top of the sleeping bag," Sayuri told Nina. "Katt, did you bring your own?"

Katt shook her head. "No, I preferred to bring a futon... with that fur, sleeping in a sleeping bag will only cause me to sweat like crazy."

"Sooo..." Yuka then asked. "Shall we all get changed into our jammies? It will feel much more like a slumber party this way."

Nina hesitated. "You mean... change in here, with all of you around?"

"Aw, that's all right, Nina!" Patty grinned as she started to undress. "We're all girls here after all."

"That's true, but I never... never had..." She blushed. "Never had changed with anyone else present in the same room..."

"Um, you can always change in the bathroom if you prefer..." Sayuri suggested.

But Nina shook her head. "Uh, that's okay... if all of you don't mind, then I'll do it as well." And with these words, she pulled the brand new pajamas she had bought at the mall that day.

Later, they were all sitting on their sleeping bags, futons or on Sayuri's bed.

"So, what do you want to do?" Sayuri asked. "Yuka and I have a nice selection of DVDs here... but maybe you want to do something else first?"

Nina and Patty looked at each other. They had no ideas what girls in this world were doing together.

"I have an idea!" Yuka suddenly grinned. "You ever heard of that game called 'Truth or Dare'?"

"No, I can't say I have," Katt shrugged. The two winged girls shook their heads as well.

"Well, its actually pretty easy: Someone asks 'Truth or Dare', and you have to choose either one. If you take Truth, you will be asked a question and must answer it truthfully. But if you choose Dare, you have to do whatever you are told."

Patty grinned. "Sounds like fun! Let's do it!"

Nina nodded as well. Katt sighed. "Okay, I don't mind... but only if you don't ask me first!"

Sayuri smirked. "Fair enough! Okay, let's begin... Yuka, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!" Yuka said.

"Okay... is there a boy at school you like?" Sayuri grinned, while Nina and Patty started to giggle.

"Um, actually..." Yuka blushed. "I think D-daisuke is pretty cute..."

"Daisuke?" Katt asked in surprise. "One half of the perverted duo? Why him?"

"I know he's a bit perverted," Yuka admitted. "But, um... I just think he's cute, that's all. Did you ever see how he looks like when he's ashamed? The way he blushes, it's just too cute..."

Sayuri giggled. "Okay, good enough for me. Now Yuka has to ask someone."

"Well then..." Yuka pondered. "Katt, Truth or Dare?"

"Um... Truth?"

"Okay then, Truth... What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done in your life?"

"The most embarrassing thing?" Katt thought about it... and winced when she remembered the time when she had to kiss the frog prince Jean to free him from his curse. "DARE! I choose Dare!"

"Well, okay, but you have to do it! I dare you to... tie this ribbon around your tail and wear it for the rest of the evening!" And Yuka pulled a pink ribbon out of her bag.

Patty, Nina and Sayuri laughed when they saw how Katt was staring at the piece of cloth. "You've go to be kidding me!"

"Now, now, you accepted the Dare!" Sayuri scolded the Woren. "It's either the ribbon... or the tale of your most embarrassing moment in life!"

Katt groaned. "Okay, okay, but only until we go to sleep..." She reluctantly accepted the ribbon and gave it to Nina, to the princess could tie it around her tail as a bow.

Nina smiled. "I think it suits you, Katt!"

Katt blushed through her fur. "I would never wear something like that in public... I think it's just too girly for my tastes." She then glared at Yuka. "You planned for this, didn't you?"

"Sure I did, but can you blame me?" she snickered.

Patty grinned. "Well, I can't... you really should consider wearing this thing more often, Katt!"

"No, thank you!" Katt grumbled. "So... it's my turn now, isn't it?"

"That's right!" Sayuri nodded.

Katt looked at Nina. "Nina... Truth or Dare?"

"Um, I choose Truth!"

"Well... is there a boy YOU are interested in?"

Now Nina was blushing even more than before. "W-what? B-b-but I..."

"Hey, it's no big deal," Yuka said. "If you don't want to tell us, you can always choose Dare."

"W-well, there is one, but..."

"Really?" Patty asked in surprise. "Wow, I never knew! Who is it, Nina? C'mon, give us all the juicy details!"

Nina buried her face in her hands before she muttered: "Sten..."

"Sten?" Katt gasped. "No way... But, I mean... does he even know?"

"Why Sten?" Patty asked at the same time. "He's so lanky and... furry!"

"Hey, I'm furry, too," Katt protested.

"Well, I have never told him, but he... he is always so courageous... and funny. He makes all these silly jokes... but I always have to laugh at them. But he also can be nice and gentle if he wants..."

"But wait... isn't Sten betrothed to the Princess of HiFort?" Patty asked.

Katt shook her head. "No, didn't you hear? Elforan chose Sten's old friend, Trubo, instead. I don't really know if Sten had any other feelings for her than just friendship... but I have seen him and Rand sitting together in a bar a few weeks ago... and they were lamenting their existences as singles."

"Awww, those poor guys..." Yuka cooed. "Say, this Rand guy... what's he like?"

"Well, he's big, strong and silent..." Katt began.

"Oooooh, one of those guys, eh?" Sayuri said teasingly. "You haven't got a boyfriend, do you, Katt?"

Katt blushed through her fur. "Well, er, that is... Ikindaalreadyhaveaboyfriend!"

"Whaaaa..." Sayuri gaped. "Run that by me again?"

"Didn't you hear?" Patty grinned. "He's a brave hunter, a real sweetheart and is as cute as a puppy."

"Wow!" Yuka said. "What's his name?"

"B-bow!" Katt muttered.

Sayuri snickered. "Did you already kiss?"

"S-sayuri..." Nina gasped in surprise.

"Um, actually... yes, we did!" Kat admitted.

"Really? So, how was it?" Yuka asked.

Katt blushed even more. "Wet..."

She had to grin when the other four girls broke out in giggles.

"Poor, poor Akane... let's hope she never finds about this," Sayuri sighed.

Katt winced. "Um, yes... let's hope she never finds out..."

'Too late for that now...' she thought to herself.

"Okay, who's next?" Yuka asked.

"It's Nina's turn!" Patty reminded them.

"Okay then... Patty, Truth or Dare?"

"I choose Dare!"

"Oooh, a bold girl!" Sayuri winked.

"Well... I dare you to... stop playing the pickpocket whenever you see a rich man's wallet."

Patty laughed bashfully. "Eheheheheh, I have no idea what you are talking about..."

Nina smirked at her. "You know what I mean. I know it's hard, but that's my dare!"

Sayuri whistled. "Patty, you little pilferer... can't keep your fingers to yourself, can you?"

"Oh, all right, I choose Truth!" the dragon-girl huffed.

"Very well then... Okay, here's the question: When you first met Ryu, did you instantly recognize him?"

Patty suddenly looked as if something was bothering her. She didn't answer right away.

Nina looked at her in worry. "Patty? Are you all right? I-I didn't ask you anything... inadequate, did I?"

"I didn't recognize him right away," Patty said quietly. "But, when you got me out of SimaFort and I traveled back with you to clear Bow's name... I got a closer look at him. And somehow, I thought he looked familiar to me... I didn't really remember much from my childhood, but I always had the image of a bigger brother, a strong boy with blue hair... who I always looked up to. And... there was this scene in my head... I think it was something that happened back when we were kids. I saw a giant monster leaping out of the bushes... a monster with a beak. And just when it was going to attack me... the blue-haired boy stepped in and protected me."

"Ryu must have been pretty heroic even back in his younger days," Nina smiled. "How cute!"

"But that's not all," Patty sighed. "You remember when Habaruku tricked us and made you bring me back to Gate?"

"Yes," Katt muttered darkly. "I remember very well..."

"He... he captured me with his magic," Patty said. "And I felt so helpless... almost as helpless back when that monster attacked me. And the scenery... everything around me looked almost like back when I was a child. And I was so afraid... I couldn't do anything. So I did the same thing I did back then: I called for my big brother!"

She sighed. "And he came. The white dragon may have distracted Habaruku, but it was Ryu who saved me and defeated the demon worshipper. It was then when I finally realized: Ryu and that boy from my childhood - they were the same person! Ryu was my big brother!"

"Wow..." Yuka whispered. "What a sad and beautiful story..."

"Do you see him regularly now?" Sayuri asked.

Nina and Katt looked at each other in worry, as they both knew how Ryu sacrificed himself and turned himself into a dragon to seal the gates to the underworld.

But Patty smiled. "Yes, I do... Every night, I talk to him... in my dreams!"

* * *

"Where the heck am I NOW??"

He had been walking through the forest, all the time looking for Akane, still hoping that some time, he WOULD catch up with her.

He then ended up inside some cave, in which strange creatures were living that could only utter 'Upa!'

Later, he came across a pair of travelling monks, which tried to teach him a weird dance. According to them, this dance would be used to worship a certain deity called 'Namanda'.

And now...

Ryoga looked around in confusion. This time, he didn't even notice when he entered the underground cavern.

But he didn't quite dare to call this a cavern... somehow, the walls, the floor and the ceiling that surrounded him looked as if it was made from some... ORGANIC matter. Strange things were pulsating in the walls, and bony spikes and grinning skulls were jutting out of the strange substance. An icy wind was blowing past him, although the air around him was so hot that he sweated. And then, there were the sounds... It was a dreadful chorus of horrible screams, blood-curling screeches and deafening roars.

Ryoga had tried getting out of this place a couple of times, but the strange tissue the walls were made of didn't break when he used the Bakusai Tenketsu on them. The only things he could make explode in shards of splinters were the bones that were sticking out of the walls.

"I've got to find a way out of here..." he murmured. This place was giving him the creeps, and somehow, he felt as if he was being watched.

"I shouldn't be here..." he grumbled. "I should be out there and search for Akane. Damn you, Ranma... um, I mean, Katt... THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Suddenly, he felt... no, he KNEW that someone was standing behind him. It was a powerful presence... but it wasn't the sheer amount of power that made him shudder, but the unbelievable amount of EVIL it radiated.

"Well, well..." a voice as deep as hell itself rumbled. "WHo do we have here?"

Ryoga slowly turned around... and froze when he stared at the huge, vertical eye that was in front of him.

The eye was glittering in various colors and was slitted like a snake's pupil. It was scary, but he also could feel how this horrible eye was staring deep down into the depths of his soul, reading every single one of his souls and uncovering all of his deepest secrets. He knew that he couldn't move as long as this eye was staring at him, no matter which demonic creature it was belonging to.

"You are not from this place," the booming voice continued. "And the seal is still intact. So how did you come here?"

Ryoga wasn't capable of giving an answer, he didn't even feel capable of moving. Spellbound, he continued to gaze into the depths of the pulsating eye in front of him.

"Whatever the reason of your appearance down here might be... as long as you have this intriguing ability of getting anywhere within seconds, even if you aren't aware of it, I may have use for you..."

The demon snickered. It had been a long time ever since he had taken possession of a human being, as he had been the elite warrior of his master's troops, the second-in-command, the spy and herald who was only used on very special occasions, the harbinger of doom who let his paralyzing eye of fear fall upon the worst enemies of his lord.

But now, that his lord was gone, and he and his followers were trapped within the bowels of the earth itself, Barubary had to resort to every chance he and his kind had if they could hope to crawl up to the surface once again...

And this mortal's soul... it was filled with anguish! With despair! Such powerful anger! And for a human, he was a powerful creature indeed. Yes, this one would serve him well... not as a slave, a minion or even an equal ally... no this one would have the outstanding honor of being Barubary's vessel... the body he would be using to once again infiltrate the land of man and beast!

Ryoga didn't feel anything when Barubary entered his body. He only saw that the eye which had kept him frozen in fear suddenly disappeared... but he still couldn't move his body. For the fragment of a second, he could feel a strange power inside his body... and then, he knew nothing.

* * *

Ryoga blinked. He was back in a forest... was it the same one in which he had searched for Akane? How did he get back here?

He didn't remember leaving the spooky cavern, but then again, he didn't really notice how he got there in the first place.

He shook his place. "No time to ponder that now, I have to find Akane!"

With no trace of memory left of ever having seen an eye of doom or having heard a demonic voice, Ryoga continued his search for the one he was caring for...

Deep inside his soul, an evil presence was hiding unnoticed, cackling with glee...

* * *

The following hours (Or maybe days? Ryoga really couldn't tell...) the eternally lost boy tried to find a trace leading to Akane... or at least the way back to this 'Windia'. But to no avail...

He tried asking for directions several times, but every time the people showed him the way, he ended up in a completely different region than those they had described to him.

In the end (Was it still the same day he started his search? He couldn't tell...) he found himself in what looked like an agricultural region, with many farms, wide fields and pastures filled with cows and horses.

When the sun was slowly vanishing behind the horizon, he sighed. "I need to continue my search by tomorrow..." he murmured. "Maybe I can find Akane after a good night's rest..."

He could have asked one of the many farmers for a place to stay, but he was used to camp outdoors, so he searched for a nice place.

After searching for a while, he found the entrance to a huge cave, but unlike the very strange caverns he was in earlier, these looked actually appealing. Huge torches were illuminating the cave and warming it up, while old rugs were lying on the floor and hanging from the walls. He could also see small wooden, carved statues that were standing around. They mostly looked like farm animals.

"Hello?" he shouted. "Is anybody there?"

He didn't have to wait for long, as two tall men came to greet them. They were wearing orange robes and their heads were bald.

"Welcome to the Home of Namanda!" they said with a pleasant smile and bowed.

Ryoga frowned. "Wait a minute... didn't I meet you earlier? Aren't you those two travelling monks?"

"You must have met two of our brothers," the right man smiled. "I am Brother Geoff and this is Brother Percy!"

"Namanda's Children are travelling all over our world to spread His words," Percy explained. "Don't you want to become a follower of Namanda as well?"

Ryoga chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, but... I'm not interested. I was just coming here because I hoped this could be a place to spend the night..."

Percy and Geoff bowed down again and made a welcoming gesture. "Please come this way, my friend! Namanda's Halls are open for all weary travellers! Please follow us and feel at home!"

Ryoga followed the two monks through the tunnels, where he saw more wooden carvings and carpets hanging from the wall. One giant bust looked like the head of an ox.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This is the image of our god, Namanda!" Brother Geoff explained. "He is the Earth God of Farming, the cultivator of crops and the protector of animals!"

"Well, it makes sense that this temple is surrounded by so many farms, then," Ryoga murmured.

They brought him to a small door behind which was a small, secluded chamber with a sack of straw, a small table and a chair.

After they brought him some vegetables, bread and cheese, they excused themselves.

"We have to get ready for the evening prayer," Percy said. "But if you need anything, just ring the bell."

"Have a good night!" Geoff said, and then they left.

After finishing his dinner, Ryoga lay down on the straw sack and quickly fell asleep. It had been a stressful day...

* * *

In the middle of the night, Ryoga's eyes opened. But behind his eyelids weren't his normal pupils, they were red-glowing demon eyes.

The demon that was controlling Ryoga chuckled as he stood up from the ground and bared his fangs, which were even longer and sharper than normal.

"The idiot brought me directly to the one place I have been hoping to reach..." the demonic entity chuckled as it let Ryoga's body walk out of the small chamber. He walked through the tunnels until he reached the entrance to the great main hall of the temple, where the two monks were praying in front of two huge bonfires.

Startled, they jumped to their feet when the demon forcefully pushed the door open. "Wh-what do you think you're doing?"

"Shut up and take a look at this, you fools!" the demon grumbled and removed Ryoga's bandana.

A third eye of doom was staring at the surprised monks.

"Oooooh, so it was you, Lord Barubary!" Geoff said and fell to his knees.

"Had you revealed yourself earlier, we would have brought you to a much more befitting domicile..."

"Stop that pathetic whining and let me talk to your master... and take on your true forms already, there are no humans around."

"Right away, my lord!" Geoff said as his image turned into that of a lanky, goat-headed demon with a forked tail. Percy, on the other hand, turned into a stout pig-demon.

Barubary strode past the lesser demons and approached the huge, wooden statue of the bull-like Namanda.

The statue's eyes flared to life. "Barubary..." a demonic voice grumbled. "How did you find this place?"

"Nice to see you too, brother!" Barubary sneered at the imprisoned demon. "I must say, you managed to build up quite the religion here... how nice to see that you manage to fool a bunch of moronic farmers!"

"As soon as I find enough followers, I shall break free from this statue and wreak havoc on the mortal plane," Namanda roared. "But how did you get here? I thought you and the master were still imprisoned within Infinity? Aren't you supposed to stay in hiding until the Church of Eva has completed its mission?"

"Shows me how much you notice in this backwater region..." Barubary grumbled in annoyance. "For your information, Master Deathevan is no more!"

"WHAT?" Namanda shouted in outrage and terror. "How could this be?" He didn't even question his brother's claim, as he knew that Barubary never lied.

"A heir of the dragon race..." Barubary snarled. "A young upstart and his friends of meddling adventurers unveiled our masterplan and descended into the depths of Infinity to slay Deathevan."

"OUTRAGE!" Namanda's voice thundered through the cave. "Our master's death must be avenged! Show me where those infidels are that dared to lay a hand on our master, so I can crush them!"

"YOU are still bound to that statue, dear brother, and don't you forget it! You know that the seal put on that thing is so powerful that even I can't break it."

"Then how did you manage to break free from Infinity?" Namanda asked.

The three-eyed archdemon chuckled. "The young mortal whose shell I am currently inhabiting somehow stumbled across my lair, and I swiftly took possession of him. He has a very interesting tendency of getting lost in all kinds of places... no matter how impossible it normally would be to get there."

"I see..." Namanda murmured. "You decided to use this mortal's abilities to get free... By hell, you are one lucky bastard!"

Barubary sneered. "I know! Now, I have come for a certain reason."

"I knew you wouldn't come just for a family reunion..." Namanda grumbled. "So what do you want?"

"I have a plan to take vengeance on those who sealed us away and killed our master... a plan that will allow us to wipe out all of humanity!"

"You want to kill all living humans? How do you plan to do that? You have no army at your disposal."

"I know that, and I didn't say I want to kill them. I just said I want to wipe out all of humanity. But for that, I need something from you..."

"You are asking for MY help?" Namanda asked and roared with laughter. "Why should I help you?"

"The sooner the meddlesome humans are gone the sooner we can find a way to free you from that statue, fool!" Barubary snarled.

Namanda was intrigued. "I'm listening..."

"I know you are specialized in demonic venoms and potions, and your powers more than often have poisoned the ground of those farmer's fields, destroying their crops and infecting their cattle. But the plague I want to spread is of an entire different nature...

"What kind of plague?" Namanda asked. "I can make you any potion you want, as long as it helps to eradicate humanity..."

"Not eradicate, Namanda!" Barubary chuckled. "Transmute them, change them, transform them into something that will be easier to control. You know my specialty are curses... so if I combine my curse with your venom, we'll be able to create a potion so powerful that it will be able to change all of humanity, including those bestial races, the Woren, the Grassrunners and the accursed bird-people of Windia!"

"Transform them... into what?"

Barubary grinned. "You know how once all of the bestial races have developed from lesser animal races, right?"

"That's common knowledge even for the humans," Namanda growled. "So what's your point?"

"My point is that animals are much easier to control than intelligent beings such as humans. If we manage to regress them to their feral states, they will succumb to our powers easily."

"But what about the humans?" Namanda asked. "They have a different origin, you know that."

"I know," Barubary smirked. "That's exactly why we are changing them into such beings as the Windians and the Worens... half-animals that can be regressed to feral animals. When there are no intelligent beings left on Earth, we demons can do as we please, and no one will be able to stop us!"

Namanda laughed. "I like that plan, brother! We will ravage the earth to our liking, poisoning the seas and covering the skies with clouds of darkness!"

"And without the aid of the mortals to back them up, not even the all-powerful dragons will be able to stop us!" Barubary added. "So, what do you say?"

"I'm willing to give you both my venom and the help of my servants, as I am still bound to this cavern, unfortunately. But knowing you, you'll take care of everything, right?"

"Of course!" the archdemon smiled. "The plague will be spread through the air, water and living beings alike. First, it will only affect humans, transforming them into half-beast creatures. Later, my curse will make them all regress into their feral state. It will take several weeks until that point, maybe even months. But we have waited for eternity... we'll be able to hold on a few more months."

"Well spoken!" Namanda said. "SERVANTS! Bring me a goblet!"

The goat-headed Geoff and pig-headed Percy came running, carrying a golden goblet with their hoof-like hands.

"Here it is, master!"

"Place it in front of me!" Namanda ordered, and the two lesser demons obeyed.

The wooden mouth of the bull statue moved, and a sickening, green liquid came oozing out of it, dropping into the goblet.

Barubary picked up the goblet and made a gesture over the venom. His eyes glowed bright red, and the liquid changed from green to a dark violet.

Barubary raised the goblet high above his head. "This shall announce the beginning... of the NEW era of demons!"


End file.
